Original Land

Inglewood Western Australia stands on Mooro country. I questioned what the land would have looked like to the traditional owners, the Wadjak people of the Noongar Nation. One small parcel of land, The Inglewood Triangle, which has never been built on, is the closest reference available to the original flora. We also have the writing of Botanist Charles Frazer who said the physical landscape consisted of “open woodlands, isolated Jarrah and Marri trees rose above dominant banksia with an understory of shrubs”.

Ribbon Grants

On colonization, the initial system of obtaining land in the Crown Colony of WA was devised for colonists to obtain land on conditions of improvement, without them having to purchase it, provided they arrived in the colony before the end of the year 1830. These conditions of improvement stipulated that after ten years any land that had not been brought into cultivation or otherwise improved from the wild would automatically revert to the crown.

The resulting parcels of land were generally long and narrow so no one person could monopolize the frontage of a lake or river. These became known as Ribbon Grants. Inglewood is made up of parts of Ribbon Grants X, Y & Ab.

The artwork Ribbon Grants aims to show what the land would have looked like prior to cultivation or improvement. It employs strips of old woollen blankets dyed mottled grey to mimic the soil and swampy areas, with hand stitched markings giving an allusion to the original flora through the seasons viewed from an overhead canopy or as a map.

This artwork is part of Suburban Secrets Art Trail & History Walk