callan park rainforest gully installation (2020/21)

​Collaboration with Annelies Jahn
Mist, misting nozzles, timber, plastic

This installation is made in response to an existing watercourse in the rainforest gully in Callan Park. Located on Gadigal and Wangal lands, the watercourse existed in a natural state before colonial people arrived. It was fed by a natural spring, like the Tank Stream at the site of the first settlement on the harbor. Also like the fresh spring close to what is now Circular Quay the spring in Callan Park, attracted early settlers as a water source for their stock. The waterway was paved in the 1800s and the gully developed into a ‘therapeutic garden’. In 2020 and 2021, we had an informal residency in the rainforest gully. In addition to an exploration of the area, we recorded the plant species growing in the gully: some indigenous species predating the colonial era and growing along the edge of the water such as the sandpaper fig and the blackbean tree. We erected a mist installation following the path of the waterway in homage to the original watercourse and as an interactive artwork that would be a visceral reminder and experience of the water present in the gully.