The Riḡorabana, The Balawaia – Outer Space

Outer Space is pleased to invite you to explore The Riḡorabana, The Balawaia by Dean Ansell, the third exhibition of its 2025 Main Gallery Exhibition Program, running  running from April 24 to May 24. 

The Riḡorabana, The Balawaia is an immersive exhibition that explores Melanesian heritage, environmental processes, and the transmission of Indigenous knowledge through the lens of both ancestral and diasporic experiences. Weaving together familial storytelling, fieldwork and cultural practices from Papua Niugini, the project interprets local mythologies surrounding the caves and boulders deep within the sacred mountain of Lamana Golo, where sorcerers are initiated. Centred on these sacred sites, where Ansell’s ancestors evolved, the project also connects local beliefs to natural weathering processes that mirror cultural transformation over time.

Artefacts of Pacifika labour found in Papua Niugini have been reimagined as sculptures and playable instruments. Spanning soundscape and embodied performance, this constructed natural environment will be the grounds for a story of the Riḡorabana and the Balawaia to be told.

In a recent visit to his ancestral homelands, Ansell observed the profound relationship between land, culture and community. The exhibition examines material change as a metaphor for learning, where knowledge is gained through interaction with the land. Just as clay cracks, metals rust and salt crystals form – signs of adaptation and continuity – so too does wisdom pass  through generations. Nature, in this way, is not merely a resource, but a partner in life, shaping and preserving indigenous wisdom. By weaving together natural weathering processes with traditional knowledge, the exhibition suggests that indigenous wisdom is etched into the land itself, reinforcing the idea that stories and the environment are intrinsically intertwined.