Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk: Where can I see Aboriginal art in Albury, NSW?

The Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk is a fine place to enjoy Aboriginal art in Albury, while taking in native wildlife along the Murray River.

Albury is one of the key towns on the Murray River, a 553km drive from Sydney and 328km drive from Melbourne. It has a sizable collection of historic buildings and attractive riverside parks. But it isn’t exactly known as a hotspot for indigenous art.

The Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk

However, if you wish to see Aboriginal art in Albury, take a stroll along the Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk. This trail follows the Murray River through the West Albury Wetlands, and there are three options.

The full track to the Wonga Wetlands is 10.5km return, taking roughly two hours and thirty minutes. There’s a quicker river and lagoon walk that’s 2.5km long and takes around 35 minutes. And there’s the middle option to the Horseshoe Lagoon and back. That stretches for 5.5km and takes around an hour and 20 minutes. Be warned: during the summer in Albury, this can be pretty hot and sweaty work.

Along the route, however, are a series of sculptures and acknowledgements that this part of the country traditionally belongs to the Wiradjuri people.

Indigenous artists, and occasionally schoolchildren, have been commissioned to make artworks that fit the setting. For example, the Googar Goanna by Darren Wighton is a larger than life version of a small wooden toy goanna that children would traditionally play with and learn from. The goanna is a well known totemic symbol in Wiradjuri country. The sculpture is carved out of river red gum – the emblematic tree that so often lines the Murray.

Further along is a sculpture of Wiradjuri Woman, made from an iron bark tree stump thought to be at least 350 years old. The plaque beside it shows it’s by Leonie McIntosh. Her statement reads: “I have created a sculpture emerging out of this tree stump – as if a spirit is breaking free.”

Other sculptures include river animals and more abstract works, but the joy of the Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk is that the art intersperses the nature. Turtles and pelicans on the lagoon will fight for your attention.

The Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk starts at the Kremur Street boat ramp in West Albury. An alternative way of exploring the Murray River in Albury is on a kayaking tour.

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