1 Alison Page, Nik Lachacjzak, Shane Youngberry , The Eyes of the Land and the Sea (2020)
2 Theresa Ardler and Julie Squires Nawi (canoes) (2020)
3 Tupaia (c1724–1770) [Polynesian high priest and navigator who joined the Endeavour voyage in the Society Islands ]
Australian Aboriginal People in Bark Canoes April 1770 pencil and watercolour
A www.nla.gov.au Diary of Joseph Banks (28 April 1770)
By noon we were within the mouth of the inlet which appear’d to be very good. Under the South head of it were four small canoes; in each of these was one man who held in his hand a long pole with which he struck fish, venturing with his little imbarkation almost into the surf. These people seemd to be totaly engag’d in what they were about: the ship passd within a quarter of a mile of them and yet they scarce lifted their eyes from their employment.
read https://www.bl.uk/eblj/2005articles/pdf/article10.pdf Tupaia’s Sketchbook
B Alison Page
“...brings together different perspectives on our shared history – the bones of a whale and the ribs of a ship – and sits in the tidal zone between the ship and the shore where the identity of modern Australia lies. The first encounter between James Cook and the First Australians was a meeting of two very different knowledge systems, beliefs and cultures. The abstraction of the ribs of the HMB Endeavour and the bones of the Gweagal totem the whale, speaks to the different perspectives of those first encounters, providing a conjoined narrative of two very different world-views.”
C smh.com.au Dillon Komumberri, architect
"The devastating impact of colonisation, with its disruption to Aboriginal landscape, people and cultural practices, has over time created a collective amnesia regarding this history." Mr Kombumberri said generations of built-up cultural bias meant people were unable to see systems of managing the land that were right in front of them, such as the growing of native grasses and traditional fire burning."The thing about cultural amnesia is this idea that Country is still speaking, but we may not be able to hear her," he said.
The sculptures commemorate the first encounters between Aboriginal Australians and the crew of the HMB Endeavour, 250 years ago and represent the beginning of our shared history.
