MAREE CLARKE & TRENT JANSEN

Project Name: Balit-dhan Balit-ngangjin (Their Strength Our Strength)

Location: Wesley Place, Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Creative Direction: Broached Commissions

Commissioner: Charter Hall

Materials: Cast bronze, stainless steel

Dimensions: 1900mm w x 600mm d x 1800mm h each

Description: As part of their creative direction of art at the Wesley Place precinct by Charter Hall, Broached Commissions appointed artists Maree Clarke and Trent Jansen to create an artwork for the forecourt of the Wesley Place Church.

The two solid cast bronze benches, titled Balit-dhan Balit-ngangjin (Their Strength Our Strength) were designed as a collaboration between Maree Clarke and Trent Jansen. As a tribute to Louisa Briggs, William Barak and to the history of Coranderrk Reserve, these benches commemorate both agricultural practices employed at Coranderrk station, and traditional cultural practices of the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri peoples in their forms; branches that act as the exterior framework reference the hops poles used at Coranderrk, whilst river reed and charcoal seats acknowledge the unique cultural practices associated with men and women of the Boon Wurrung and Wurandjeri peoples.

The gesture was requested by the church and commissioned by Charter Hall - both wanting a counterpoint to the sculpture of John Wesley that stands in the precinct forecourt.

Axolotl is proud to have been commissioned to produce and deliver the sculptures in collaboration with the artists. The forms materialised through over 1000 hours of toil in prototyping and fabrication, and the likeness to the artist's first sketch concepts is astounding.

The process of Bronze casting allows each piece to deeply echo the materiality of the branches, charcoal and reeds. The objects achieve a time-worn patina through being aged and hand polished with customised proprietary patina effects.

Landscape architecture by Oculus Studios completes the evolution of the benches into their final form on-site; plants that are native to the Black Spur region have been selected and have been embedded into the planter beds behind the benches. Over time, vines will wrap around each seat’s bronze branches in the same manner as hops were once twined around branches at Coranderrk.

We thank and congratulate Broached Commissions and artists Maree Clarke and Trent Jansen for conceptualising and developing this piece as a tribute to Victoria’s First Nations, and Charter Hall for commissioning such an important work. It was a privilege to be part of this moving and meaningful project.

About: Maree Clarke is an artist and leader in the reclamation of Kulin Nations Australian Aboriginal art and cultural practices. Collaborating with her family and greater community, Maree ensures each piece she makes is embedded with cultural heritage and knowledge, and expands contemporary awareness of Kulin Nations cultural practices that date back millennia. Multimedia installations in film, photography and video by the artist further  investigate the rituals, ceremonies and practices of her Ancestors. 

Trent Jansen is a designer based in Thirroul, Australia, and Lecturer at the University of New South Wales Art & Design, Sydney Australia. Trent labels his practice as design anthropology, which is defined by deep enquiry into the historical and material culture contexts of the narratives he investigates. These investigations have, since completing his PHD, tended to focus on the intersections between First Nation and Migrant Australian narratives.