EEL TRAP
Mitch Mahoney & Maree Clarke (Australia)
"Rivers signify tribal boundaries, gatherings for corroboree, life, not only for humans but for all living creatures" – Maree Clarke
Created by Boon Wurrung artist Mitch Mahoney and Mutti Mutti/Yorta Yorta and Boon Wurrung/Wemba Wemba artist Maree Clarke, Eel Trap is a 10-metre installation made of biodegradable reeds and grasses on the Maribyrnong River.
Inspired by traditional Aboriginal eel traps and made of river reeds from the local area, this installation is an example of how we might we use Indigenous knowledge, science and art to continue our fight towards a sustainable future.
The installation was created by Mahoney and Clarke and participants in workshops at Footscray Community Arts Centre, released into the Maribyrnong River in 2019.
Workshops in progress at Footscray Community Arts Centre, 2019
Maree Clarke (AU) is a Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wamba/Mutti Mutti/Boonwurrung woman who grew up in northwest Victoria, mainly in Mildura, on the banks of the Murray River. Maree has been a practicing artist living and working in Melbourne for the last three decades.
Maree Clarke is a pivotal figure in the reclamation of southeast Australian Aboriginal art practices, reviving elements of Aboriginal culture that were lost – or laying dormant - over the period of colonisation, as well as a leader in nurturing and promoting the diversity of contemporary southeast Aboriginal artists.
Mitch Mahoney (AU) is a proud Boon Wurrung artist and cultural educator who consults at Bunjilaka Melbourne Museum, Science Gallery and Footscray Arts Centre. Mitch introduces his practise of Indigenous Bio-design through a cultural exchange lens with projects including: The Biodegradable Eel Trap and Seven Canoe’s project. Mitch and Maree are currently working on significant commissions for the National Gallery of Victoria and the Metro Tunnel Project.