Forests to Fields 1808-2003
Bett Gallery Hobart, Tasmania. 2003.
Edward Kimberley was convicted of stealing ‘several parcels of muslin’ and transported from Coventry, England to Sydney on the First Fleet in 1788. He then became a free settler with a major land grant at Rokeby, in lutruwita (Van Diemen’s Land / Tasmania) in 1808.
As an eighth generation Australian whitefella descendant of a First Fleet convict and free settler to Tasmania, my responsibility is clear. I’ve been making work since 2003 that specifically critiques the fact-reality of the colonial invasion of palawa / pakana peoples country, lutruwita (since 1804). Actively de-colonising myself by listening to and working with the First Nations people whose country I now belong to in lutruwita has become my priority. This ongoing work follows numerous artistic and curatorial projects with First Nations peoples, that I am proud to have been part of since 1989.
This series of works are the result of my meeting pakana elder, Gloria Andrews in St Helens, Tasmania in 2003. Gloria invited me to make work on her country, particularly at the Blue Tier and the Bay of Fires, in meenamatta country, north eastern lutruwita (Tasmania). Gloria and I became close friends. It was also following this series, while I was working on my next series of new work at the Blue Tier, that I met another close friend and collaborating artist, puralia meenamatta Jim Everett (plangermairreener / pakana).
Special Thanks: Gloria Andrews (pakana), meenamatta country, lutruwita (Tasmania).
© Jonathan Kimberley, 2003
