Us and Them and the Others ...an excerpt

A spiral in the sand … a big one … adorned with surfboards … wetsuits trailing from its mouth into the shallows of some beach. This mysterious image came through as an email attachment. This is the age we live in. These things happen. Still, the breath was sucked out of me. The beauty of this sand spiral so profound I sat and stared at it on the screen for a long time. Then two things occurred to me. This connection was costing me money. And, I could have this image too. I printed it out. My printer did a good job. Somehow, it was no longer the same. I put the printout aside and let the image rest in its fullness as a moment in the hard-drive of memory.
This was my first experience of …such fertile ground…, the community arts project instigated by Regional Arts Victoria in twelve communities across the state of Victoria. The spiral image named "Such fragile ground" is now one of twelve postcards. Each a photograph of an installation on the land. Each installation breath-taking in concept and proportion. Each a landmark, a statement from that community: "this is us". We, the others who are not "us", can all have one to send or to hold or to stick up on the wall.
The set of twelve postcards was launched in 2001, Australia’s Centenary year of Federation. Another nervous moment in our history when argument raged as to how to celebrate one hundred years of unity and democracy in an Australia still divided over national identity where many voices still go unheard. Some, whose ancestors have walked this land for 40,000 years, argued with each other whether to stand with or apart from the celebrations. Others, whose ancestors arrived in more recent times from corners of the world far across the seas, argued over which pathways emblazoned on the landscape could be celebrated, which exist, and which are better left in the shadows of a past still under debate.
Twelve pockets of rural Victoria, in collaboration with Regional Arts Victoria’s staff and Artistic Director Donna Jackson, and working through a network of locally based Arts Councils, decided they would celebrate the Centenary of Federation in their way. RAV spread the word through the local Arts Councils that the project was up for offer in their community. Twenty-seven communities put their hands up to host a …such fertile ground… project. Twelve were chosen. An artist and coordinator were employed from each area to consult the people of their community, to come up with a design incorporating their ideas. They then chose a patch of land, installed the image in the landscape using volunteer labor and local materials of significance; employed a photographer with a blimp to send a camera up into the sky to capture the image from above. From this photograph postcards were printed. "This is our place", the postcarded image declares."This is our past, our present, and perhaps a way to our future. This is who we are."From the dreaming up to post-carding, …such fertile ground… took three years. In each patch across the state, issues facing the nation in its centenary year, raised themselves in the discussions and planning that led to the creation of the images. The struggle to define an identity for each community contained within it the struggle to define ourselves as a nation. Who belongs in this place? Whose place is it? What history do we share? Whose are the voices that haven’t been heard? What are the stories yet untold? How can we work as one community? What is a community? Who cares?

The complete essay Us and Them and the Others can be found
as part of the ABC Online project ...Such Fertile Ground.

copyright meme mcdonald 2002