Send Me To The River

Send Me To The River features notes and imagery to supplement an artist in residence project that took place at Melbourne’s Living Museum of the West, in 2018-2019. Focused on the Maribyrnong River, which flows through the inner-western and north-western suburbs of Melbourne, the project developed through fieldwork and research undertaken at sites including Maribyrnong, Footscray, Sunshine North and Braybrook, and at the Living Museum itself. An interest in the effects of human imposition upon the river environment – such as the imprint of colonial-pastoralist mismanagement and noxious industry practice, the extraction of ancient lava flows, the artificial overlays atop landfill and military test sites, and a history of extensive modification (dredging, damning, straightening, widening, deepening) – underpins the resulting experimental essay film produced as an outcome of the residency.

Special thanks to Living Museum committee members, Kerrie Poliness, Matthew Davis and Peter Haffenden, for their generosity, support and sharing of local knowledge during my residency.