Sabrina‑Rose Toby

My star is grounded in Gangulu Country and our creation story of how the stars came to fill the night sky.

In the story, the Windaru gada, the Kookaburra brothers, steal fire sticks while Gangulu people are fire farming. As they fly across Country trying to escape, they set the trees alight and a great fire spreads. The people call upon Munda Gara, the Rainbow Serpent, who brings rain to extinguish the flames. As the rain hits the burning trees and earth, sparks rise into the darkness and become the stars in the heavens.

My response to CIAF 2027’s theme, Superhighway: Country Sings to Stars Dancing, comes from that movement between Country, fire, rain and sky. The star is not separate from Country; it is created through Country, story and the actions of ancestral beings.

The lines and repeated forms within my design suggest movement, pathways and energy radiating outward, like sparks travelling into the night sky. They also speak to the way cultural knowledge continues to move through generations.

For me, the “superhighway” is this continuing connection between Country, ancestors, story and sky. Our stories travel, our knowledge continues, Country speaks, and the stars carry that story forward.