Working the Ground

BACKGROUND: Gilbert's research project 'Working the Ground' responds to a body of critical cartographic work that sees mapping as 'performative, participatory and political' (Jeremy Crampton). It was part of 'Interpretive Wonderings: Mapping Culpra Station,' exhibited alongside the work of thirty indigenous and non-indigenous participants who produced mappings in response to country through stories told by elders. CONTRIBUTION: Gilbert's project explores the ways in which landscape (as mediated experience) might begin to produce a map. Appropriating the concept of the transect from the social and physical sciences and using this as a base drawing technique, critical lines and points in and on country were located through a mapping of country, revealing ephemeral and temporal exchanges and transactions through acts of juxtaposition in the field and the sharing of experiences on the ground. The work re-positions the ways that mapping is considered in relation to the discipline of Landscape Architecture. SIGNIFICANCE: The significance of the work is evidenced in its inclusion in the 'Interpretive Wonderings' project, which was initiated following an invitation from the Culpra Milli Aboriginal Corporation (the custodian of the land that comprises Culpra Station through the Pearce family). It opened the Mildura Arts Centre 2016 Diamond Jubilee celebration. Mildura Arts Centre is a major regional Australian gallery. It received funding from Mildura Rural City Council, Mildura Arts Centre, and NSW Government. In 2018, the project received the Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture's National Award in the Research, Policy and Communication category. The jury stated that the project was an 'important and beautiful body of design research ... it establishes a valuable framework for collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the future, and as such, is an important step on the path to Reconciliation.'