Cirrus@Austlit

'In this iterative writing and walking project, we have been making space to ask questions of each other about caring for Country, to share conversations about climate change, and to remind ourselves of the love that keeps us present. We start with an anecdote, usually shared while walking together on Gadigal/Bidgigal Land along the Cooks River; we live on either side of the river and have been walking together for many years. We take turns both to propose prompts for writing and directions for our walks responding to what we’ve encountered- mangroves, casuarinas, or for this essay, dingoes. Our walks in the catchment have also included following Papaya, Banana and Dragonfruit Trees through Marrickville and rowing and walking the river.'  (Introduction)

'A descendent of the O’Brien family, closely related to those who suffered tragic

irretrievable loss at the hands of Jimmy Governor when he murdered a pregnant women and her toddler child in 1900, recounts her family’s journey of reconciliation. The sight of the “posts in a paddock”, the remains of the original homestead in which the deaths occurred and the only disappearing reminder of this tragedy on what is still the family farm near Wollar, north-east of Mudgee NSW, moved the author to explore the stories from her family and also from the Governor family. This realization took her on a journey to gather up, and introduce to each other, members of both families and to workshop their stories as a means of seeking a resolution to the tragedy. This journey eventually came to include descendants of Jimmy and Ethel Governor and led to reconciliation through participation in the development and performance of a play. The final outcome is a theatre piece marked by interracial collaboration and establishing common ground through intercultural dialogue,understanding and an overriding shared wish for reconciliation.' (Source: abstract)

'One hundred and eleven years ago, relatives of My Darling Patricia's Clare Britton were murdered by an Aboriginal Bushranger, Jimmy Governor, on a property in the Hunter Valley. Taking its name from the ruins of the house where Clare's relatives died, Posts in the Paddock is a major new performance and installation.

'Posts in the Paddock sees My Darling Patricia collaborate with Indigenous actor Leroy Parsons, who discovered while developing this work that he is Jimmy Governor's, great-great-grandson; and elder Aunty Rhonda Dixon-Grovenor also shares a family connection to the Governors. The work also features an installation by acclaimed visual artist Fiona Foley. Combining sculpture, animation, puppetry, performance and oral histories, Posts in the Paddock is a powerfully immersive experience.'

(Source: Performance Space website)

'"Hole in the Wall" is a contemporary love adventure. A couple search for the meaning of "home" through a series of encounters that underscore the banality and magic of the everyday.'

Source: Carriage Works website, http://www.carriageworks.com.au/
Sighted: 28/04/2010