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< Living Archives

A History I’d Never Learned

REBECCA SHANAHAN

A History I&#8217;d Never Learned
Aerial view of Jonathan Jones, barrangal dyara (skin and bones), Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, 2016. Photo: Pedro Greig

I was incredibly moved by this work. The shields littered the ground like bleached bones on a battlefield. They also reminded me of the parch marks in Britain that emerge during drought to reveal sites of previous settlement or structures as far back as pre-Roman times.

Seeing a building site mapped out like that—crossing garden beds as though they weren’t there—was like being shown something I should have been aware of all the time, shown a history I’d never learned.

I also loved the planted installation of kangaroo grass, and Bruce Pascoe’s site talk was a revelation; again, being shown stuff we should have known. I bought the catalogue because it was so interesting and beautiful, but also because this work felt really significant.

– Rebecca Shanahan
READ MORE ABOUT PROJECT 32: JONATHAN JONES
View Other Living Archive Stories
Anyone could have their Name in Lights
Abseiling Little Bay
How to Produce a Public Art Project
Singing to Their Hearts’ Content
An Unusual Build
A History I’d Never Learned
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