WAARI recognises the unceded lands in which he has and continues to live and create on, including Wurundjeri, Woi Wurrung and Bunurong lands of the Kulin Nation, Gimuy-Walabara Yidi, Yirrganydji, Kuku Yalanji, Arrernte, and Kalkutungu.
WAARI is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice explores the deep interconnections between land, language, and body. Guided by strong cultural ties, he is a proud descendant of the Waanyi and Kalkutungu peoples of so-called Australia, and the Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Manu, and Te Ātiawa iwi of Taranaki, Aotearoa (so-called New Zealand). WAARI’s work weaves together these ancestral bloodlines, grounded in the lived experience of being Blak in places shaped by ongoing colonial presence. Drawing from both Indigenous worlds, his practice is a space for exploring identity, resistance, and cultural continuance. He has created across many lands including Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country (Naarm), Gimuy Walubara Yidi (Cairns), Kalkutungu Country (Cloncurry, Mount Isa), and Arrernte Country (Alice Springs).