Wardandi Boodja is a five and a half metre steel bust on the Koombana Foreshore in Bunbury.
The title of the artwork, ‘Wardandi Boodja’, recognises one of the oldest cultures on the planet. Wardandi is a Noongar word that refers to this region’s dialectical group. This artwork stands as a guardian of this place, as a reminder we all live on and in Wardandi saltwater country. The Noongar word Boodja means country/place. Boodja is all encompassing including the whole ecosystem and human culture interwoven. The artwork recognises one of the oldest cultures on the planet and stands as a reminder to visitors and locals alike that Noongar culture is vibrant and strong.
An important element to the sculpture is the poem displayed on the plinth which reads:
Sand and water and time move through our fingers;
damp from the sea, the land clings to us—
salty and healing.
Slow down and listen to that whisper in the trees,
slow down.
Listen to the ancestors, bworan moort, keepers of the land
singing to the silvery kwilena.
They leap and call. Hear them—
they have come to play,
come to listen.
Swim, koolangka, chase the seagulls, laugh in the clean air.
See, where serpent rivers swirl into brine,
where maali dip long necks in living water.
Step gently here.
The earth is under our skin,
and Wardandi boodja keeps a warm fire burning.
Bworan moort: Old people/ancestors
Maali: Swans
Kwilena: Dolphins
Koolangka: Children
I deliberately overexposed the sky so that I could get the detail in the sculpture and I rather like the way it turned out.
