By Stephen Bevis
About 15 rows back from the old left pocket at the western end of Subiaco Oval, a striking sculpture is grounded in place, culture and history while pointing irresistibly to the future.
Here, cheering footy fans once jumped from their seats as the Materas, Krakouers, Farmers and other Noongar legends threaded the ball between the big sticks. Now, three large pod-like metallic way-finders stand to inspire and guide new generations of visitors to the famous oval in the new Subi East precinct.
These three aluminium sentinels comprise artist Lea Taylor’s sculpture Connections, symbolising Djeran (April-May), one of the six Noongar seasons represented along a landscaped art trail to celebrate Noongar katidjin (knowledge).
The textured outer shell of Taylor’s work was cast from woven textiles, which is at the core of her cultural practice as a Wadandi, Menang, Goreng Bibbulmun woman. The polished smooth inner concave surface invites the viewer to reflect on the importance of culture.
“I want to leave a legacy,” Taylor says. “Not only for me but for my people, for Aboriginal people. It is about time we had a presence on our own Country. Look at a lot of the art trails around Perth, how many are Aboriginal?”
Representing Noongar culture prominently and appropriately in our public spaces was an essential requirement for the landmark Subi East project undertaken by Development WA.
The Six Seasons Bidi Artwork project – which included other seasonal markers created by Dellas Bennell, Kamsani Bin Salleh, David Jones, Jarni McGuire and Rubeun Yorkshire – was the biggest WA State Government investment in Aboriginal public art to date.
For all six emerging Noongar artists, it also was their first venture into public art. They were assisted by a comprehensive professional skills development program that has been a much-needed springboard for them to take on more major public art commissions.
In Taylor’s case, that has included eight new works including for the Perth Hub complex, the new Causeway Pedestrian and Cyclist Bridges Project and another major new project in the city.
“The opportunity was awesome,” Taylor says. “It’s now led me to where I have so many jobs on, it’s not funny. People are now ringing up and saying. ‘Lea, we want to work with you on public art’. I can pull a team together myself now because of that experience, the exposure I had with different people and the more art I do, the more exposure I’m getting with different people as well.”
Development WA worked with Whadjuk Elders and Aboriginal development managers Karrda to shape the project, with Apparatus appointed in late 2020 to prepare the public art planning and deliver the vision collaboratively, along with Big Spoon Art Studio and UDLA+OCULUS.
Apparatus Director Helen Curtis says the project team identified a need for greater capacity building for artists so they could respond to the growing enthusiasm for Aboriginal public artwork. “We absolutely relished the opportunity to develop a wrap-around professional development program for Noongar artists. We would love for this work to end up in self-determination, where this generation of artists are able to take on public art jobs end-to-end.”
Taylor says she gained the skills and confidence to apply for more jobs. “I’d never had experience of working in public art even though I had wanted to. I didn’t know where to start. I was absolutely terrified to do it.
“It always used to be the same people getting their work out there. You’d walk around and you’d see work by the same people. ‘Oh, there’s another one, and another one by the same artist.’ I always wanted to be able to break into that, but I hadn’t had a lot of art exposure. I had largely done my art for me and had done a couple of small exhibitions and group shows.”
“It seemed easier to do nothing – and then I saw the call out for the Subi East project and that they wanted inexperienced artists. I thought maybe this could be the door for me to walk through.”
Karrda Founding Director Barbara Bynder, a Whadjuk, Ballardong, Yued artist and anthropologist, says the project gave the participating artists new skills to take on the large responsibility of representing culture and heritage with the authorisation of Elders.
“We wanted to offer the opportunity to Noongar artists who wanted to work in the public art sector but didn’t know how to get a foot in the door.”
Most importantly, the project followed cultural protocols from beginning to end, with group decision-making embedded to ensure the best outcomes, she says.
The Noongar Artist Mentorship Program was designed to be an exercise in listening and learning for all parties, facilitated through a bespoke 15-week workshop program. Two artist mentors and Apparatus team members assisted the artists through concept planning, design development and fabrication, and specialist mentors covered such topics as business development, arts law and contracts, marketing, reading architectural plans and presentation skills.
“Helen Curtis’ knowledge is amazing, and she and the Apparatus team shared that knowledge so freely and with such enthusiasm that the artists were overwhelmed by how much they were learning about the industry,” Bynder says.
Acclaimed Wardandi and Badimaya curator, writer and advocate Clothilde Bullen is chair of the National Association of Visual Arts. She has worked with Apparatus in her former capacity as Head of Indigenous Programs at the Art Gallery of WA and currently as Lead, Cultural Strategy and Development, for the new ECU City Campus.
“Most artists are really unfamiliar with the business side of things necessary to evolve their practice,” Bullen says. “That is why independent artists without the support of an art centre or gallerist particularly suffer because there is a gap of knowledge and little support. Apparatus have helped fill that gap and been a one-stop shop for skills development – and that has been absolutely critical for people to succeed.”
The key is sustainability through the provision of skills that artists can continue to apply throughout their career, Bullen says. Developing cultural capability with non-Indigenous staff also means ensuring that staff have the cultural competence to work with Aboriginal artists and as brokers with clients.
“Apparatus has been really pivotal in developing a contemporary framework of working with Aboriginal artists – and are setting a benchmark for others in this standard.”
Bynder says landing public art commissions demands high levels of professionalism to work through technical, planning, regulatory and logistical processes with multiple stakeholders.
More work has to be done to raise the skills of more Noongar artists for them to compete against other local artists and east coast artists, who are often very polished and experienced across the multiple skills needed for major commissions, she says.
“People need to understand it is very competitive,” Bynder says. “You don’t get this job because you are Aboriginal or Noongar. This is a competition of who has got the best design. To be competitive, you need to have the skills. This was about building all those skill sets.”
“Noongar artists need to step up to get to that national level. We are not there yet but we are going to get there. It is really telling – and I may be biased – that the work at Subiaco is the best I’ve seen in a long time in public art in this state. The results come from the process.”
“We have moved up a step and it is really beautiful to see.”
All photography by Frances Andrijich
Stephen Bevis
Stephen is an experienced writer, journalist and communications consultant with a focus on arts and culture. He sits on the boards of Seesaw Arts Magazine and Writing WA, and his previous roles include Arts Editor at the West Australian and Communications Manager at the Perth Festival.