'Bark Canoe' - Balgowlah, NSW, Australia
S 33° 47.588 E 151° 15.872
56H E 339336 N 6259427
This Abstract Art/Sculpture is in 'The Plaza' of Balgowlah.
Waymark Code: WMYKKZ
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 06/25/2018
Views: 1
This sculpture is in the Plaza above the Stockland Balgowlah Shopping Centre, and represents an Aboriginal bark canoe.
STOCKLAND BALGOWLAH ART PROGRAM
Artist: Glen Clarke
born 1954
Title of Work: Bark Canoe - Scar Tree
Materials: Skateboard Decks, Stainless Steel,
Fibreglass
Date: 2009
Artist's Statement:
"In my research, I found there is a 'scar-tree' on North Head, a blue-leaved stringybark (Eucalyptus agglomerate ), where the scar is the size and shape of a canoe. According to Emma Lee in 'Tale of a Whale', it is thought to be more than 150 years old:
'…To Aboriginal people, a scar in a tree is a beautiful shape because it reminds us all of the uses of tree bark, as well as the importance of keeping trees alive. Tree bark can be used to make twine, which is used for the fishing nets and rope. It is used to make the coolamons or shallow wooden dishes which hold fruit and nuts, or to rock the baby to sleep in. Tree bark makes the canoes that are the quickest and easiest way to get across Sydney Harbour or from Manly up to the Hawkesbury. Canoes then were used like the family Holden or Ford station wagon.'
"This sculpture refers to the bark canoe as a worthy symbol for celebration as the only form of transport for the original custodians of the Kay-ye-my region. It also makes an indirect reference to the Manly Ferry and to today's popular culture with our fascination with leisure craft. The remarkable form of the bark canoe has been reduced to abstraction: it is basic, immediate, functional form, partly resembling a culvert, a wave, or a skateboarder's half pipe.
"I acknowledge the generous support and involvement of Omni Skate Boards Australia in this sculpture."
Visited: 1635-8, Sunday, 4 February, 2018