I’m blown away after a seven day residency in the heart of the Pilbra Region, Western Australia for The Vast Project. I was invited to be involved by organisers Jae Laffer and Qynn Beardman. The project was supported by The City of Karratha.
Over 25 fellow artists in the fields of music and visual art converged in the historic town of Cossack, also known as Bajinhurrba which is on Ngarluma land. We took over the whole of the former ghost town for a week of creation, and collaboration. It was inspiring to explore and create in such an enchanting place with so much layered history amongst the restored, stone buildings and beautiful natural surrounds. Not to mention how motivating it was to be among the many local and nationally acclaimed artists and production people who were all eager to get stuck in and make great work.
Visual artists and musicians alike witnessed and responded the energy of the area, the dramatic ebb and flow of the adjacent tidal plains, the ethereal quality of the nearby salt plains and the formidable rock formations, as we learning of the history of the people there from many different places and backgrounds.
During several site visits throughout the region, we listened to stories from local elders, aboriginal rangers and other locals of what it’s been like in for the community over the decades and all the positive things happening now. It was very special to survey rock art, tens of thousands years old, at Murujuga National Park on the Burrup Peninsula.
Throughout the residency, hearing all the fragments of amazing music being fleshed out amongst the various ad hoc studio spaces was kind of like being in the the movie “Fame”, but set in a “Pioneer World” theme park. All the visual artists were lucky enough to be invited to join in the recording of backing chorus for a few of the tunes created over the week. Magical!
I’m looking forward to expanding on the research I did in Cossack and producing further work as a reflection on the effects of the tidal forces and the different tides of custodians in the area through the ages as well as in the present.
The residency as a whole is planned to culminate in a body of work (potentially an album) for performance and exhibition as part of the opening celebrations of the Red Earth Arts Precinct in 2018.
Mal Harry,
September 2017
Photo credits: Russell Ord @russellordphoto and Thalia Economo @peaceis
