Heralded as the biggest fish in the Murray-Darling Basin, the freshwater Cod is prized by traditional, recreational and commercial fishers alike and for this reason is targeted for much illegal poaching. Furthermore, the Cod is credited as the best indicator species for the ecological status of the Basin as a whole. It has been found that populations of the species have declined dramatically since European settlement and are no longer common in many parts. Issues which have contributed to this fact, include habitat degradation, pollution, reduced environmental flows, barriers to migration and as stated previously, fishing. Indigenous artists Yvonne Koolmatrie and Treahna Hamm highlight this plight of the iconic fish through their figurative woven sculptures.
Yvonne Koolmatrie, Pondi (Muray River Cod), 2009
Yvonne is a Ngarrindjeri master weaver, Ngarrindjeri country is located at the mouth of the Murray Rive. Her remarkable skill is demonstrated in Pondi (Muray River Cod,) 2009, pictured above. Made from native sedge rushes, Yvonne was able to repatriate the skills of her ancestors and create a piece of work that matches the legend of the fish.
Acquiring her skills from Yvonne, Treahna Hamm is a Yorta Yorta woman, who grew up in Yarrawonga located on the banks of the River, 95 kilometres west of Albury. Treahna’s sculpture Looking Forward, Looking Back, 2009 is comprised of recycled fishing line, weaving something of value out of discarded and harmful material found along the river banks. Her work attests to the link between responsibility to land and culture; ‘The Elders say…if the river is unhealthy then our people are unhealthy.’
Treahna Hamm, Looking Forward, Looking Back, 2009
Such sentiment is also captured in her earlier work Yabbies, 2006. The large scale sculpture is woven out of the sedge rushes favoured by that of Yvonne. The yabbie is a favoured food source of the Murray River and its prosperity is determined by the health of the river, it will lay in hibernation until the floodwaters breathe life into the river system.
Treahna Hamm, Yabbie, 2006
Connecting the past with the future, both artists have begun a new tradition through the framing of age-old techniques within a contemporary art context and in doing so have brought some much needed attention to the state of Australia’s longest river and its precious marine life.
The two sculpture pieces Pondi (Muray River Cod,) 2009 and Looking Forward, Looking Back, 2009 both featured in the Menagerie Contemporary Indigenous Sculpture touring exhibition in 2010.
For more information on the state of the Murray Cod please see the report conducted by the Applied Ecology Research Group at the University of Canberra. To view the report, please click here.
Kylie
all art is quite useful 