Winja noonook bidi wah? Nguny kepa bidi.
Where is your path? My path is the water path.
Duba Kan Koorliny! Nidja Kepa nyinniny Kalyakoorl.
Walk slowly and softly, and here the water will sit forever.
Walking together through place and time, experience the portals to deep waters. To the aquifers, the groundwaters, the water table beneath the city. Here, the water will sit forever. Kepa Kalyakoorl.
Set at Old Customs House and at sites all along the Bilya – Swan River, Kepa Kalyakoorl – Aquiferous asks: what lies beneath our city?
Immerse yourself in glowing and moving springs of light and sound, mapped into the space of the Old Customs House. Inviting awe and curiosity, this new commission imagines the deep waters flowing through Bilya. Breathing, shifting, shaping into deep time. What footprint will you leave in the Noongar universe?
Kepa Kalyakoorl – Aquiferous is a collaboration between interdisciplinary artist Cara Teusner-Gartland, environmental designer Daniel Jan Martin and Whadjuk Nyoongar woman Sandra Harben. With Freda Ogilvie, Bianca Harben and Clancy Martin.
About the
artists
Cara Teusner-Gartland
Cara Teusner-Gartland is an interdisciplinary artist based in Walyalup – Fremantle. Her practice is grounded in studies of site, situation and storytelling. Engaging with painting, expanded drawing, sculpture, installation, sound and written word, Cara documents and builds a holistic familiarity with urban landscapes, interior spaces, and underlying local narratives.
Completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Curtin University in 2018, Cara has since presented work for Clyde & Co Art Awards, the Kennedy Prize, (cross)hatched (2018), Galvanise (2019), Propel KickstART (2020), and (e)merging (2020). She recently produced a body of work for a 2021 group exhibition, Healing and Repair, at PS Art Space. Cara has also volunteered and performed in multiple projects across the first two years of the Fremantle Biennale: HIGH TIDE 2017 and UNDERCURRENT 2019.
Daniel Jan Martin
Daniel Jan Martin is an environmental planner and designer practising in Perth, Western Australia. He teaches and researches in architecture and landscape architecture at the UWA School of Design. Between geospatial and architectural scales, he demonstrates how we can work with and repair the natural systems in our cities and suburbs. A passion for environmental communication drives Daniel’s work – sharing, translating and advocating for harmony between our cities, water systems and ecosystems.
Daniel studied in architecture, environmental design and music at The University of Western Australia and at Lund University, Sweden. Recent work includes the online environmental resource Whole Perth Catalogue (launched 2019), the immersive ecological exhibition Swampscapes (2019) and the book publication In Time With Water: Design Studies of 3 Australian Cities (2019), exploring design with water in Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane, published by the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities.
Sandra Harben
Sandra Harben is a Whadjuk and Balardong Nyoongar woman. Sandra is the principal of Richmond Consultancy, which facilitates cross-cultural awareness training workshops (CCWTW) throughout the South West and metropolitan areas. Sandra has undertaken extensive community and stakeholder engagement as a member of the Whadjuk Working Party for the WA Museum.
