Kaatutya - totems by Flinders St station

KAATUTYA Eloquent communicators, silent, contained, potent : totems by Flinders St

In July this year, in Melbourne, near Flinders St station and the river, I found these beautiful totems standing surrounded by cars, trams, trains and passers by. They stopped me in my tracks, they spoke to me quietly. I had to stop walking to feel them, standing as they did by river and grass among gum saplings that spoke to them, with whom they seemed to live interdependently. As we do too, with all trees, those blessed providers of the air we breathe.

I had to walk amongst this speaking forest and as I walked up and down, I came upon an inscription which put into words some of the things they were speaking of. I never found an artist’s name but I honour that person from the bottom of my heart, for making such a powerful piece of public art. Also, I think of Pete, to whom the piece is dedicated. There are many other stories on the poles: thank you, thank you. Your reminders feed me still.

‘KAATUTYA

We have a unique opportunity to make assessments on many levels

As artists, as members of a community and

As individuals. We review our environment both

The physical and the emotional, In retrospect and

into the future, translating the positive and negative

in the context of the Journey.

With one change brings a thousand changes and with

Those thousand chages one hundred thousand more

And so one story becomes a library of narrative

The removal of one tree will forever change that

Landscape, the removal of a people will forever change

The story, the only thing that is certain to remain are

The scars...

Shaping lives and forever reminding those who

Choose to see, of another history.

...and as we search for a key, the legend of

This map, we are reminded of the words

Our brother used to say

“listen to the Ground.”

For Pete

17.1.68 - 7.1.99’

If you’re in Melbourne look for them down by the river, between Flinders St Station and the Melbourne Aquarium.

(So strange that it has taken being here in Singapore, rain falling, soft warm air, trees and leaves among the buidlings, for me to be able to write about these powerful poles. It’s having time and space, I guess, but also looking for traces of those who have been here for thousands of years on THIS island...and then it’s in Newark, winter sunrise early morning when I actually get to post this...)