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Bolya Moodoort (Magic within the paperbark)
Justin Martin, Susan Milne and Greg Stonehouse
Title: Bolya Moodoort (Magic Within the Paperbark)
Artist/s: Justin Martin, Susan Milne and Greg Stonehouse
Year: 2025
Category: Sculpture
Site: Long Park, Queens Park Station precinct
Location Details: Seating area to north of station
Medium: Sandblasted concrete, stainless steel and LED lighting
Artist/s Statement:
Bolya moodoort celebrates the power of Noongar culture today and how it continues to contribute to the fabric of Perth life for all people.
The spirit trees in the space dancing over the circular ground plane interprets the Biboolboorn, Yowarl or Melaleuca, as an important tree utilised by the Noongar people for food, medicines, tools, locating water sources, and cultural ceremony. The organic lines of the sculptural trees reflect a cohesive community as their branches both grow towards and are sheltered by the ceiling of the viaduct.
While decisions to disempower Noongar traditions and language have caused much suffering, this artwork installation is a celebration of Noongar culture, educating all about the expansive knowledge which overlays today’s bidis (paths). In this way, art ingrains the identity of Noongar families along the rail journey and helps non-Aboriginal people to understand the breadth of this culture.
The artwork is a landmark for the station as part of the biddi, a habitat hosting the movement of travellers and families.
The Public Transport Authority acknowledge that Noongar languages are oral in nature and that one word can be spelt in multiple ways.