Construction of the first large-scale artwork in the new North Gardens sculpture park has begun with indigenous artist Deanne Gilson laying the foundations for the biggest creation she has ever made.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
When completed in the coming weeks, the sculpture will comprise a 14m stone circle consisting of 10 large basalt stones with a traditional stone hut in the centre of the circle.
“In the mid 1800s there was a corroboree site of the Kulin Nation at Lake Wendouree up near Loreto,” Ms Gilson said.
“As part of my PhD, being a Wathaurung woman and as a visual artist, a lot of my practice looks at reclaiming and reinvigorating lost culture, so when I found out there was a stone circle in that vicinity in Ballarat … I thought it would be perfect to put back a corroboree site,” she said.
Council, in consultation with traditional owners and local indigenous representatives, launched the North Gardens sculpture park project to help educate the community about the significance of Lake Wendouree to local indigenous residents.
“The circle has significance as a symbol for yarning women sitting around weaving all our conversations. They aren’t linear, they happen in a circle,” Ms Gilson said.
“Dancing happens in a circle when we do a corroboree and our knowledge system works as a circle,” she said.
The stone hut represents a traditional hut and is made from river mud stone. Inside the hut will be rendered in an ochre colour with hand prints from four generations of the artist’s family.
Ms Gilson said she hoped the stone circle would also give people a chance to reflect as they pass through.
“When nobody is there it will just literally be a quiet place. Stones in our culture are meant to retain memory, and stones are used across the world to mark monumental things so I’m hoping that people will walk through and be quite reflective as they pass.”
Plaques containing traditional symbols of men, women, children, hunting, artefacts, ceremony, plants, animals, totems and Dreamtime stories associated with Ms Gilson’s ancestors will also be embedded in the stones.
“I’ve been at this for 35 years full time and this is the biggest artwork I will ever do in my life as far as scale, what it means and its significance I don’t think I could top this,” she said.
The sculpture will be officially opened on March 23.
Have you signed up to The Courier's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.
