A collaborative community-engagement project between Bidjigal artist Michael Woodland-Cooley + Ngemba artist Andrew Snelgar.
LA+ 002 presents an exciting collaboration by Dharawal artist Michael Cooley and Ngemba artist Andrew Snelgar. Primarily working with the medium of shield making, Cooley has developed a style of visual storytelling that maintains the longstanding tradition of pokerwork synonymous with the La Perouse Aboriginal Community. Cooley’s works will be displayed in conversation with Snelgar’s, whose shield making practice centres the continuation of linework traditions connected to broader Southeast carving practices. Together, Cooley and Snelgar will mentor a group of men connected to the La Perouse Aboriginal Community to foster engagement with these significant cultural traditions and ensure the enduring legacy of the many carvers connected to La Perouse.
LA+ 002 speaks to innovations in the use of linework that has seen the economy of the La Perouse Aboriginal Community develop into what can be described as a ‘transitional culture’ of artistic practice. During the early 1900’s, traditional skills were used to develop ‘non-traditional’ artefacts for tourists such as boomerangs, clubs and shields. Since then, artistic practice from La Perouse has become synonymous with artefacts engraved with motifs, including flora and fauna and iconic images such as the Harbour Bridge. These works demonstrate the continued relationship to Country and cultural practices, along with changing circumstances of the La Perouse Aboriginal Community.
For LA+ 002, Cooley and Snelgar’s work will contextualise a series of historical rock engravings situated along the La Perouse headland. These engravings demonstrate the millennia old practice of using linework to document Country. Traditionally carved by senior Aboriginal men, rock engravings were produced by joining an outline of pecked holes to form a carved line. Recorded by W.D Campbell in 1898, the engraving site on the southern headland of Frenchman’s Bay that depicts a 11.78m whale accompanied by a 4.52m whale calf will act as a departure point for Cooley and Snelgar to further explore contemporary expressions of narratives connected to Sea Country around Gamay.
The exhibition comes at a critical moment in the cultural landscape of La Perouse, as Cooley is one of few community members continuing the practice of shield making. Recounting memories of watching the likes of the late Uncle Greg Simms carving shields and boomerangs, Cooley understands the urgency of this exhibition in maintaining significant cultural practices to ensure the younger generation of makers continue the rich history of carving practices connected to La Perouse.
