Stories from the city 

Placemaking and public art 

Featured in

  • Published 20230801
  • ISBN: 978-1-922212-86-3
  • Extent: 200pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook

The urban landscape is full of hidden histories – and for curators Amanda Hayman and Troy Casey, it’s also rich with creative potential and community value. As the co-directors of Blaklash, an Aboriginal design agency that specialises in First Nations placemaking, they curate, create and consult on everything from public art installations to major architectural and urban development projects. By foregrounding Indigenous perspectives and stories, they reveal the ways in which public art can help shape the identity of a city, offering residents and visitors new ways of understanding the environmental landmarks of their daily lives.

CARODY CULVER: How did Blaklash begin, and how would you describe your ethos? 

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

About the author

Amanda Hayman

Amanda Hayman grew up in Logan city and has cultural connections to Kalkadoon and Wakka Wakka Country in Queensland. She is the co-founder and...

More from this edition

Revolutionary wave

Non-fictionThis was the late ’60s, early ’70s and surfing in Wales was regarded by the parent generation as delinquency. It was for losers, layabouts, rogue males. In those early days Welsh surfers numbered around one hundred, congregated on half a dozen beaches down fifteen miles of coastline west of Swansea, known as the Gower. I knew each one of those surfers by the styles they deployed on the waves. So idiosyncratic was early Welsh surfing that out on the road if you saw a car with boards on the roof coming at you, both drivers would pull over for a chat.

Lying on grass

FictionJamie wishes he could be more like Todd. Not because Todd’s excellent, but because he figures out what he wants and does it. As they pull out bits and pieces from the skip to build their drum sets, Jamie thinks about how he wants to be free, but doesn’t know if that’s something a person can ‘do’. After a while they’ve constructed two sets side by side at the front of the driveway. They’re not buckets, tins or lids: they’re tom drums, snare drums and cymbals.

Their presence

Poetry Straight away you’re taller, sprung firm andspry by their ecstatic vocal runs and upscaling,by their tripping lightly over pages of dogma in the opening chorus...

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.