Art tells story of Kaurna and Peramangk people
Kaurna-Ngarrindjeri artist Paul Herzich
Source: Original article written by Joseph Moore, Mount Barker Courier, Mount Barker (03 August 2022)
Indigenous designs have been rolled out across the Adelaide Hills Council region and on its new website, telling the story of the Kaurna and Peramangk people thanks to the commissioned artwork of award winning Kaurna-Ngarrindjeri artist Paul Herzich.
Mr Herzich is a public artist and a landscape architect who was commissioned by the Adelaide Hills Council in late 2019 to design artworks which could be used across the region.
His first work for the council was unveiled in 2020 on a 170m retaining wall below the Gumeracha Hospital.
The designs he created have since been used on new council signage, on the council's website and, most recently, on decals along the windows of the Stirling Coventry Library - which were installed at a cost of $9978.
Mr Herzich's designs tell "part of" the story of the Seven Sisters, a widely distributed dreaming of First Nations people across Australia, and the connection between the Onkaparinga and Torrens rivers.
"The organic flow of the journey lines in between represents the two rivers," he said.
"Then you've got the sedge, which is ... the spiny flat sedge, and you will see those symbols throughout.
"You've got the coolamon to represent women and men as well - so within those star patterns, the small one is the male part of the Seven Sisters story and then the rest of them are the females.
"I've tried to depict ... what is everyday life along the river and the wildlife along the rivers." The council's community cultural development officer, Lynne Griffiths, said Mr Herzich's artwork was a key part of the council's "reconciliation branding", in line with its Reconciliation Action Plan, which seeks to build connections between the Adelaide Hills Council, the Mt Barker Council and the Peramangk and Kaurna nations.
"One of the elements of that is to really communicate very clearly to our community that we are on that journey and that we are very committed to reconciliation," she said.
"And it is to also recognise not just the traditional custodians, but also the fact that we have a significant number of people in the Hills who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
"We also have a very large number of non-Aboriginal people who really support reconciliation and are very committed in that journey." Mr Herzich said he was happy to see the council embrace his art, as it helped to validate the survival and the continued existence of the Peramangk, Kaurna and other First Nations peoples.
"We still have a place within country, because a lot of us are still here obviously and we still haven't gone anywhere," he said.
"It helps with other Aboriginal people not just Peramangk and not just Kaurna - to see art styles and art symbols around the place so it can give a sense of inclusivity, belonging, safety, health and wellbeing."
