Quandamooka artists to create iconic township place markers on North Stradbroke as island transitions to new economy
Traditional artists have been tasked with creating new place markers to help visitors understand the rich history of the Quandamooka people and their connection with the land.
Redlands Coast
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New place markers will be installed at Amity Point and Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) with Redland City Council appointing prominent Quandamooka artists Belinda Close and Delvene Cockatoo-Collins to design the work.
Mayor Karen Williams said designs for the “milestone project” would go out for community comment once the concepts were completed.
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“Redland City Council, as lead for this exciting project, has contracted Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation (QYAC) to design and install Quandamooka-inspired place markers,” Cr Williams said.
“Significant background work has already taken place on the best locations for the statements, as well as community consultation undertaken in 2018 to inform the artist’s project brief.
“Proposed locations, which will be part of the next stage of community engagement, are Cabarita Park at Amity Point (Pulan Pulan) and near the pedestrian crossing at the top of Mooloomba Rd, Point Lookout (Mooloomba), where there is currently a small information hut.
“It will be exciting to see what Belinda and Delvene create, merging their own inspirations with those expressed by the community.”
Cr Peter Mitchell (Minjerribah) said the works would be installed later this year.
“These place markers will have the potential to become iconic statements, attract visitors and be the subject of many tourist and local selfie moments sent around the world, increasing knowledge of the island and the Quandamooka stories behind the sculptures,” he said.
QYAC CEO Cameron Costello expected the work to evoke a powerful sense of the deep connection Quandamooka people have to Minjerribah.
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“These place markers will acknowledge the depths of history etched into the fabric of Mooloomba and Pulan Pulan, an experience that extends from the contemporary moment and into deep time,” he said.
“While Quandamooka people already read this landscape and its marks, these new place markers will allow visitors, residents and strangers to better understand the ancestral connections between people and place, to be poetically expressed by artists who are of this place.”
Acting Tourism Minister Di Farmer said the project was one of many supported by the Queensland Government’s $24.75 million North Stradbroke Island economic strategy as the region transitions from sand mining at the end of 2019.
“We’re committed to delivering projects that will create jobs for locals and stimulate the economy on North Stradbroke Island – this initiative does just that,” she said.
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“These place markers, created by two outstanding local artists, will be stunning entry points into the rich history of the Quandamooka people on the island for visitors and locals alike.”
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