Artists collaborate to celebrate history

The attached photos are of a piece called Working the Land. It was done for a Collaboration of Maleny Artists (COMA) exhibition titled Maleny Image 5: a brush with history. To celebrate Queensland’s 150 anniversary of statehood the exhibition sought pieces to depict aspects of the history of the Blackall Ranges. The exhibition is on at Maleny Artworks until 28 July.





The mountains and ranges of the Blackall Range tell us that the land itself is very old. In comparison humans have worked the land for a considerably shorter time. “Working the Land” presents 4 periods of the history of work on the land of the Blackall Range over the last 150 years. The material used to create Working the Land is old and has its own history. The rusted metal and colours of and on the timber represents the earth and the fire that forged the land. The historical sequence is presented on the four faces of the pillar – spiralling upwards from the stone axe, through the metal axe and chains, to the cow bell and barbed wire and ending with modern stainless steel but low tech hand tools. The first workers of the land were the Gubbi Gubbi Aboriginal people for whom the bunya nut had a special place. They were followed by timber getters and pastoralists. Maleny and surrounds became famous for its dairy industry. More recently the dairy industry has been complemented by other producers including sustainable and organic farmers. By respecting and working in harmony with the land it will sustain us.