Maiwar Meanderings: a cathartic fusion of art and history

Hello 😊. 

Thank you for visiting my (intermittent) blog.

I hope to share here with you the journey of researching, reflecting, navigating challenges and developing a story behind each piece in this collection. I never imagined the direction this series would take, or that I would spend as much time in my academic brain as my creative brain.

I managed to keep notes along the way – some vague, some more detailed, and many dictated to Siri as I was driving. Bringing my notes together feels cathartic in itself and I have attempted to represent the journey in a logical way, despite the process being anything other than linear! 😊

THE PROCESS BEGINS: CARTOGRAPHY AS ART

The theme for this group exhibition is “Brisbane”, and my thoughts immediately turned to ‘maps’. My imaginary ‘viewscapes’ explore the bird’s eye view and how we see our world. I saw an exciting challenge in the idea of transforming a map of Brisbane.

What started as a basic investigation into how and why we use maps soon became a fascinating exploration.  I couldn’t have imagined that my Google searches would ever include topographic maps, cadastral maps (new vocabulary!), contour maps or cartographic symbols. 

I was enchanted by the use of line in cartography, the link between mark-making and symbolism and the way symbols are "read" as we make connections between marks on the map and features of the landscape. 

I spent lots of time with sketches like this and quickly faced my first challenge. My initial thoughts around mapping Brisbane were too literal. There was no story and no reason to create a ‘map as art’, other than to fit a theme.

And that conundrum took me on a back-through-time journey!

NOW AND THEN: DELVING INTO THE PAST

To be honest, I knew very little about Brisbane's history, despite having lived here since my late 20's. As I researched, I was confronted with the political and ethnocentric nature of maps. I had never thought about the messages that maps send or the version of history that they reinforce.

Like many nations, Australia has a sad history, woven with horrific stories. And I became curious - what was Brisbane (Meanjin) like prior to white colonisation? How did the Turrbal people, the traditional owners of the land, live? What was daily life like along the Brisbane river - known as Maiwar?  

Initially I had difficulty finding visual representations, until I came across this image from the Museum of Brisbane, one that would inspire my research and direction.

 

I found attribution to Dr Ray Kerkhove and discovered that he is a professor who specialises in reconstructing Indigenous site histories across southern Queensland. I had found my inspiration!!!

I devoured many of his papers, and his references led me to all sorts of incredible information (links included at the end). I began to formulate a more educated understanding of the past.

As I sketched, the river became most prominent in the work. The central role of the river for the traditional owners of the land, and to Brisbane as it stands now, makes it a natural focal point.  From a creative point of view, the meandering line of the river is so visually pleasing.

I started to think of the work as representing life along Maiwar.

CHALLENGES

The concept of moving from cartography to art was in itself a challenge. I think it’s easier share the questions with which I battled than try to articulate a thought process that possibly defies words! 

• How do I move a map from being a record to it being visually interesting?
• How do I incorporate ideas from aerial photography and mapping, but create them as an artwork that says something?
• Do I want my ‘symbols’ to be intuitive or representative?
• Is it legitimate to take a map and just use the bits that appeal to me visually? 
• Whose stories am I representing?
• How do I represent ‘Brisbane’ without merely re-recording what has already been done?
• How do I express my own voice, in my own map, to represent my feelings about land, place, journeys and distance travelled?

I found that I was pushing against working with elements of 'realism', wanting to show, but not replicate. I had to confront the ‘boundaries’ of my style to find the ‘right’ amount of representation for me. The biggest creative takeaway I experienced, was how much I enjoy the learning and problem solving.  The more I focus on process over product, the more I feel at home with my work. 

MAPPING OUR LIVES

The literal and figurative overlap in my work. As I have delved into mapping, I’ve thought about our life journeys:  how we map them; the layers of history that contribute to our ‘map’; and what we choose to record, remember or highlight.

We often hear about “peeling back the layers”, but we can’t go back in time, to do things differently, or with wisdom gained and lessons learnt. There’s both hurt and hope, good and bad in each of our histories. The layers and lines and marks form part of our story, but there is a definite catharsis in stepping back and viewing our lives ‘from above’. It can allow us to integrate our experiences, heal, and express more authentically what is at the core.

What at times has been a confronting journey, reminded me to embrace both the hurt and hope in any story. The process of creating provides me with the space to do that work.

MAIWAR MEANDERINGS: MY BRISBANE SERIES

I didn’t set out with an intention to create a ‘timeline’ of maps, however, represented within this Maiwar (Brisbane River) series, are periods of both real and imagined time. Collectively, the series explores what was, what could be, and what is. 

I can't fully explain the two parts to this collection, delineated by colour. Perhaps it’s a reference to traditional versus contemporary. Perhaps it’s a movement between colours of joy and colours of reflection. To me it feels like being grounded with the earth and the hope shining from a rainbow. 

YESTERDAYS WATERWAYS

45x60cm, mixed media on canvas
This piece honours the story of a time when rainforest, woodlands and wetlands painted the earth alongside the river.  Where the traditional owners hunted for scrub turkeys, harvested waterlilies and used the tide to trap fish. Where ceremonial grounds, burial grounds and meeting places existed. Creeks that no longer exist or have been diverted are represented in this piece, alongside lines, marks and textures that honour the camps, sacred grounds and walking paths of our First Nations people. I am grateful for having some of my perceptions about our history challenged.

TELL ME A STORY

60x50cm, mixed media on canvas
The stories we hold to be true about a time and place are only as real as the information we have. The stories along the river are many. Some joyful. Some painful. Some horrific. Understanding the origin of the stories we tell is as important as telling them.

Creatively, this was probably the ‘easiest’ of the pieces. It grew and developed with such a sense of flow! What a glorious feeling!!!

FLOW

50x76cm, mixed media on canvas 
This is possibly my favourite piece. It explores the flow of the river, a swirling current that maintains its journey, untouched by any angst occurring on its shores. It is strong and determined, effortlessly flowing over or around whatever is in its path. “Nothing can stop it from reaching the ocean” (Beverley Joy, 2011, Love Flows Like a River). Flow encourages us to let go of the things we cannot control, to float with the current and gently but resolutely maintain an unwavering path.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

40X40cm, mixed media on canvas  
This imaginary Birds Eye view of Maiwar and Brisbane town, considers what could have been had ‘settlement’ occurred via peaceful means. What if colonists had respected the land sacred to the Toorbul peoples? What if mutual respect had been in play? It doesn’t seek to lay blame, but to explore in a curious way, and to wonder if it could have been different, what would that mean for us now? I don’t pretend to have a depth of understanding of our history, but I do have empathy and wondering and most of all hope.

MAIWAR MEANDERINGS

40x40cm, mixed media on canvas

This piece finds joy in the laziness of the winding line of the river. The meandering path taken through the landscape invites other lines and shapes to amble alongside, strolling, bending and curving in a chorus of song and dance. It explores the pure joy of the line in telling a story.
This work represents the many paths that our life journey takes us. What would your path look like if viewed from above?

NOT ALL ROADS

 

120cm x 60cm, mixed media on canvas 
This is the most visually complex piece in the series. The city is a busy, noisy, complex place, underpinned by history and overlaid with many complexities. Pretty on the outside, with its glowing lights, dirty on the inside where unspoken pain and inequity exist. 

The title alludes to the fact that I selected ‘not all roads’- only those that suited me visually. But it also argues against the idiomatic expression, “All roads lead to Rome”, an oft-used phrase meaning there are many different ways to reach the same outcome or destination or achieve the same result. However, not all roads are of one’s choosing, nor are they equal, nor do they lead to the same place - to a life where basic needs are met, where love and belonging and peace exist.

This was the most infuriating piece to complete and the one that has brought me awesome learning opportunities. It was a series of repeated crazy disasters, but realising the strength of my determination to problem solve and make it work was incredibly rewarding.

KURILPA

 
Yes - this one sits as an anomaly amongst the collection. Representative work is not my usual style, however I challenged myself purely because I loved the arrangement of lines that represent the bridge. 

The Kurilpa peninsula includes the Brisbane suburbs of South Brisbane, West End and Highgate Hill and is named for the fawn-footed melomy (water rat) known as “corril” or “kuril” in various Southeastern Queensland languages.  languages. 
 

And .... THANK YOU!

That was a lot!!! It was a privilege to learn, to be inspired and to share stories of Maiwar through my work. I hope it encourages you to consider your stories.

Kath
💙💙💙

Please feel free to leave a comment - even if it's that I used far too many words 🤣. Unfortunately, I'm unable to reply here, however, please know that your words are appreciated and that if I have a way to contact you, I will respond.

  
REFERENCES

https://indigenousknowledge.unimelb.edu.au/curriculum/resources/navigating-our-way-through-country

http://www.oncewasacreek.org

https://mappingbrisbanehistory.com.au/brisbane-history-essays/brisbane-southside-history/first-australians-and-original-landscape/indigenous-sites/

Brisbane River Bridges - Brisbane Australia

https://www.moggillcreek.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/major_waterway_catchments_map.pdf

https://qldhistorians.org.au/consultants-register/business-directory/870/ray-kerkhove/

https://social-science.uq.edu.au/profile/6569/ray-kerkhove

https://paulbuddehistory.com/

https://adp.uq.edu.au/files/13189/Aboriginal-Places-of-Inner-Brisbane-2022.pdf

https://www.icsm.gov.au/education/fundamentals-mapping/history-mapping

https://highgatehill-historical-vignettes.com/2021/02/06/kurilpa-water-water-everywhere/