#Joondoburri

[treecreate]

Arboreal Alterations

A presentation at Sir Roland Wilson Centre, ANU

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#Art #Collaboration #Joondoburri #Restoration #Trees #Walking

[exposingillusions]

The Stories of Bribie Island - from 'The Land and I' project

The Stories of Bribie Island – from ‘The Land and I’ project

  I invite you to share your stories, images and experiences of Bribie Island so we can create a living history of this beautiful place for future generations.

  For more information please see the related blog post at …

Or to learn more about this project visit The Land and I project

This project is supported by the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) which is a partnership between the…

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#Bribie Island #bribie the basket maker #fine art #history #Joondoburri #koala #moreton bay #pumicestone passage #red beach #the land and i #thomas welsby #travel #visit moreton bay region

[exposingillusions]

Having worked there for three years, Bribie Island is close to my heart, and I’ve noticed how the local’s faces light up when they talk about its history. It was impossible not to include Bribie Island as part of ‘The Land and I’ project since it has experienced such pivotal historical moments and once I’d learned of the uniqueness of Red Beach I knew I had my location. If you haven’t seen the project already, please visit the ‘Stories of Bribie Island’ page at Visit Moreton Bay Region.

Red Beach

  Like many I was quite taken with the story of Bribie the Basket Maker and initially wanted to portray the convict and his Indigenous lover on the beach but I was advised against it by the historical society who understandably are sick to death of the myth. As I was already pretty sold on the concept I decided to keep the idea but shift the focus to Welsby, the story’s creator. I think the notion of this enduring myth having been hotly contested and written about excessively for generations is just a captivating as the original story itself.

When studying the few existing photos of Welsby I realised he kind of looks like my dad, so that was my model sorted! We had to leave around 5am to make it to Bribie by sunrise so it’s lucky he’s an early riser (although not so lucky for me who needs my sleep). We walked for a few minutes in the dark to my chosen spot where I set up my camera and lights (which kept blowing over) while he shivered away in his secondhand suit. Thanks Dad. Eagles circled overhead to see what we were up to. I always envisioned him writing in the sky with an oversized fountain pen because a normal pen would be too difficult to see. I tracked down a historical looking font for the the text which was a challenge to make fit in a pleasing way.

Thomas Welsby

Dad

Me setting up

  The koala was added from shots taken at Australia Zoo as many believe Bribie’s name actually came from the Indigenous word for koala, ‘Boorabee’ or ‘Borobi’ (which you may recognise from the Commonwealth Games’ mascot) but this word originates from the Gold Coast region so no one is sure. This is why I included the koala clutching at Welsby’s leg. The crab and basket are stock images and are explained further in the original post.

  It was very difficult for me to get any form of Indigenous approval for this project as none of the elders I reached out to responded, which meant I had to be very careful including any Indigenous content. I decided to show the couple strictly as silhouettes which I created by finding stock images of an Aboriginal woman and colonial man and filling their shapes with black. I wanted to include other references to Indigenous culture of the time but could not do so without consent.

The final image:

(My website has a terrible habit of making images look fuzzy)

  This project is supported by the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) which is a partnership between theQueensland Government and Moreton Bay Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.

  How I created ‘Bribie Island’ Having worked there for three years, Bribie Island is close to my heart, and I've noticed how the local's faces light up when they talk about its history.

#author #Bribie Island #bribie the basket maker #history #Joondoburri #koala #moreton bay #red beach #sunrise #the land and i #thomas welsby

[exposingillusions]

Having worked there for three years, Bribie Island is close to my heart, and I’ve noticed how the local’s faces light up when they talk about its history. It was impossible not to include Bribie Island as part of ‘The Land and I’ project since it has experienced such pivotal historical moments and once I’d learned of the uniqueness of Red Beach I knew I had my location. If you haven’t seen the project already, please visit the ‘Stories of Bribie Island’ page at Visit Moreton Bay Region.

Red Beach

  Like many I was quite taken with the story of Bribie the Basket Maker and initially wanted to portray the convict and his Indigenous lover on the beach but I was advised against it by the historical society who understandably are sick to death of the myth. As I was already pretty sold on the concept I decided to keep the idea but shift the focus to Welsby, the story’s creator. I think the notion of this enduring myth having been hotly contested and written about excessively for generations is just a captivating as the original story itself.

When studying the few existing photos of Welsby I realised he kind of looks like my dad, so that was my model sorted! We had to leave around 5am to make it to Bribie by sunrise so it’s lucky he’s an early riser (although not so lucky for me who needs my sleep). We walked for a few minutes in the dark to my chosen spot where I set up my camera and lights (which kept blowing over) while he shivered away in his secondhand suit. Thanks Dad. Eagles circled overhead to see what we were up to. I always envisioned him writing in the sky with an oversized fountain pen because a normal pen would be too difficult to see. I tracked down a historical looking font for the the text which was a challenge to make fit in a pleasing way.

Thomas Welsby

Dad

Me setting up

  The koala was added from shots taken at Australia Zoo as many believe Bribie’s name actually came from the Indigenous word for koala, ‘Boorabee’ or ‘Borobi’ (which you may recognise from the Commonwealth Games’ mascot) but this word originates from the Gold Coast region so no one is sure. This is why I included the koala clutching at Welsby’s leg. The crab and basket are stock images and are explained further in the original post.

  It was very difficult for me to get any form of Indigenous approval for this project as none of the elders I reached out to responded, which meant I had to be very careful including any Indigenous content. I decided to show the couple strictly as silhouettes which I created by finding stock images of an Aboriginal woman and colonial man and filling their shapes with black. I wanted to include other references to Indigenous culture of the time but could not do so without consent.

The final image:

(My website has a terrible habit of making images look fuzzy)

  This project is supported by the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) which is a partnership between theQueensland Government and Moreton Bay Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.

  How I created ‘Bribie Island’ Having worked there for three years, Bribie Island is close to my heart, and I've noticed how the local's faces light up when they talk about its history.

#author #Bribie Island #bribie the basket maker #history #Joondoburri #koala #moreton bay #red beach #sunrise #the land and i #thomas welsby