Artwork a backdrop for meeting places
Corten steel panels have been installed at Tonimbuk Hall and Cannibal Creek Reserve as part of the Creative Recovery Program in the wake of the 2019 bushfires.
The panels, titled ‘Meeting Place’, were designed by local artists Janine Good and Sue Jarvis and were officially opened on the weekend.
The panels are part of the Creative Recovery Project, which engaged nine artists from Cardinia, Baw Baw Shire and Latrobe municipalities to create pieces about the 2019 Eastern Complex Fires.
Ms Good and Ms Jarvis worked with performance artist Gülsen Özer, who created a sound piece for the project.
The pair hosted workshops and consulted with the community to create the pieces, which are intended for great a place for people to gather.
Ms Jarvis, a Gembrook-based artist, said selecting a place for the visual elements of the project was difficult.
“There are very few public spaces there... no major public buildings,” she said.
Eventually, Tonimbuk Hall and Cannibal Creek Reserve were selected.
“We decided to call our areas ‘Meeting Place’ because they might not have been so much before the fires, but after the fires, they were obviously going to be the meeting place where the locals were all going to get together,” Ms Jarvis said.
“There is going to be a hall built at Cannibal Creek Reserve some time in the near future.”
The pair also faced difficulties caused by the pandemic while creating the pieces - as it harpooned many community consultations and interactions.
However, the pair worked through the challenge online and in isolation.
The final products are now standing and are intended to form meeting places for locals - a symbol of the resilience of the community affected by the Bunyip Complex Fires.
Ms Jarvis’ piece at Tonimbuk incorporates the area’s landscape, and Ms Good’s six panels at Cannibal Creek Reserve depict fauna and flora.
Ms Jarvis said her piece was intended to be positive and explore why the locals chose to stay after the fires and why they love where they live.
The panels are now on display and can be visited by the public.