FROM THE SKIES
2015. Perth Airport, International Terminal.
Acoustic sculptures: WA blackbutt veneer, fibreboard, LED lighting, aluminium
6.2m h x 6.2m w x .5m deep,
4.3m h x 5.2m w x .43m deep.
Acoustic wall: two-pack enamel, fibreboard, aluminum.
20.25m w x 6.85m h (90 sqm)
CONNECTING STORY-TELLING CULTURES THROUGH DESIGN
Taking a dual-lens approach, this artwork aimed to tell a cross-cultural story of how people across cultures and millennia have looked to the skies and told stories. The stars have long been a source of connecting people and places as a navigational tool and cultural and spiritual story-telling. Remarkably, the constellation of ‘Orion’ and ‘Pleiades’ are commonly referred to as ‘the hunter and the seven sisters’ across large expanses of time and cultures, including Australian Aboriginals, and is represented through light in this acoustic art installation.
As one of the first sights expressing the identity of Western Australia to international visitors, it was important to express our First Nations people's connection to the skies and land, and how non-Aboriginal people share similar experiences with the skies; reflecting our commonalities.
Munday Swamp, part of the Perth airport site, is one of South Western Australia's most significant archaeological sites, dating Aboriginal occupation here for at least 38,000 years. It remains a significant place for indigenous, international, and local travellers to meet and connect. This installation at the International terminal is intended to respect the origins and custodians of the land while also drawing attention to the cross-culture commonalities and connection through the celestial and terrestrial.
ABORIGINAL STORIES IN PUBLIC SPACES
In collaboration with Aboriginal Elder Doolann Leisha Eatts, the artwork also features representations of the crowned snake /Moyoop, oblong turtle /Booyi and the red-tailed black cockatoo/Karrak. The environmental phenomenon of fractal geometry visible in the transition from earth to the sky over the Western Australian landscape is reflected in the fractal geometric patterning and disparate scales of the represented elements and perforations.
The white, rear acoustic panels read:
‘At night again and again my elders used to tell us dreamtime stories, they used to show us the stars…’ by Doolann Leisha Eatts (nee Garlett Yarran)* A Whudjuk/ Pibleman/Nyungah woman elder (2014).
Perth Airport entered into a Partnership Agreement with the Traditional Custodians of the land and other members of the Nyungah community in 2009, in a spirit of cooperation and commitment to the ongoing development of Perth Airport and acknowledging and fostering cultural heritage. This project was completed in consultation with the Partnership Group.
*Doolann Leisha Eatts is a well-respected elder that tells the stories of her people that are millennia old, as well as that of her ancestor’s direct contact with the first Europeans to sail the Swan River/Derbal Yerrigan. The text was commissioned by the artist for inclusion in the artwork.
