Julie Paterson, printmaker & textile artist, Blackheath

The Baaka-Darling River, the lifeblood of NSW, is in grave danger. For The River, Our Mother (Baaka ngamaka’inana) exhibition at Gallery76 @ Embroiderers' Guild NSW in Concord West, Sydney, three artists have made diverse and powerful works responding to the history of colonisation of the Baaka and its hinterlands, and the existential threat posed by its degradation.

Acclaimed Baakantji printmaker and sculptor Badger Bates, Cloth designer and artist Julie Paterson and geographer/embroiderer Judith Burns remind us of our duty of care to Country, waterways and each other. The exhibition runs from 31 August to 31 October, and is part of the Sydney Craft Week Festival from 11-20 October 2024.

Julie will be artist-in-residence at Gallery76 during Sydney Craft Week, working with visitors on interactive art projects Wetlands and the Menindee Memorial Loop. This collaborative artwork is a long fabric loop created from many cotton fabric patches covered in thousands of stitched crosses, representing the millions of fish killed because of over-allocation of Baaka water for irrigation.

You can stitch your own piece with Julie in person at the gallery, or do your own at home anywhere in the world and post it to her.

What was your response to the exhibition Barka: The Forgotten River exhibition at the Australian Museum in 2023?

This was the first time I had experienced Badger’s work and I was moved by his storytelling and connection to the Baaka river, his land. His is a powerful story that really resonated with me. I didn’t know at the time that I would be exhibiting with him the following year, helping to spread the story of the Baaka.

When did you visit the Baaka?

I visited very briefly in June this year because I needed to get on the Country that I would be creating work about. Badger told me where to go and what to look out for and I did what he said!

How did that come about and how was it spending time with the river and its people?

The experience was powerful. I got an incredible sense of sadness about how the river and lake system was being treated. All the water getting syphoned off for industry - I saw the scale of the cotton industry and the delicacy of the river system and most importantly exactly how the First Nations people of the river area are so inextricably connected to that place.

Did you work with Badger Bates while you were there?

Badger was away on Sorry business whilst I was there but we were in communication by Zoom calls in Menindee, Broken Hill and Wilcannia, his home town, when I was travelling through.

What drew you to represent the Baaka’s fish and big birds?

I asked Badger about his work and he said, “Just Google me up.” So I did, and learned, through his lino prints mainly, which animals were important to him and the river. The Australian Museum exhibition in combination with the specific reference on the Museum's database really helped with my knowledge and research.

Do you have a favourite?

I love the pelican. At Menindee there were so many pelicans cruising at the mouth of one of the dammed lake inlets catching fish in great groups, looking like they were having a ball. Also the Murray Cod. Some of them in the river are 80 years old and can grow to a metre long. Beautiful animal.

What was the process of creating Cultural Flow, depicting how the Baaka might look if sustainably managed?

The Cultural Flow artwork came to me as an immediate visual in my head at the very beginning of the collaboration, when Judith, Badger and I were talking about our ideas for the exhibition. Straight away I knew I wanted to make a large textile suspended from the ceiling flowing through the space that physically connected us all - partly to literally connect our work but also to connect us as artists. The three of us work thousands of kilometres apart. Me in the Blue Mountains, Badger in Broken Hill and Judith in Armidale. I visualised this fabric river full of all the animals that should be in the river (some of which are critically endangered, sadly), winding its way through the gallery, connecting people and place.

How can people participate in your collaborative artwork Menindee Memorial Loop during Sydney Craft Week?

As a counterpoint to the ideal river, I have created an artwork that illustrates the reality of the Baaka River system - the Menindee Memorial Loop. The idea of stitching crosses to represent the dead fish was an idea that came to me at home, but was reinforced significantly during my visit out to Menindee. Sitting on the banks of the Baaka, at the site where the millions of fish had died, made me realise my own stitching for this Loop would not be enough. I needed other stitchers to help so I did a call out for people to send me their contribution. I thought 100 crosses would be a do-able number for people to commit to so I made a video and posted it on my newsletter and socials. The response was amazing. To date I have over 1000 scraps of stitched cotton pieces sent from all over the world, all with 100 crosses on them. From primary schools to aged care homes, this project is accessible to everyone.

My aim was to get to a million crosses on the piece - if not exactly the specific number then a sense of what one million crosses might feel like when you see the work, as it becomes a physical entity rather than just a big number. It’s the overwhelming sense of scale that I’m aiming for.

Art, craft and collaboration, together these have the ability and power to get people to really feel an idea in their gut. Words of explanation are not really needed when you can access the overwhelming sense of scale of those mass fish killings by looking at, being with and participating in this artwork.

The project is ongoing and people can participate during Sydney Craft Week by visiting and stitching crosses on the fabric scraps available at the gallery or by helping to stitch groups of the existing scraps onto sections of fabric that will eventually be added to the loop. Or by heading to my website to find out the details and sending their own to me by mail.

For everyone who takes part, slow-stitching these tiny crosses is a way to process grief for the fish kills, as well as a way to show how much they care. It’s a creative, generative and reparative act. The Baakantji people see the River as their mother. They care for her as she cares for them. This is what the Loop represents - a cycle of care that generates health and well being. If we care for the environment, she will provide for us.

It’s a simple message, although it seems hard for those in power to understand. That’s why I plan to take it to Canberra in 2025, where I’ll be inviting anyone and everyone to join me in a ‘Stitch-in,’ a crafty protest to demand that our Federal Government take urgent action to protect and heal the Baaka-Darling River (dates yet to be finalised - sign up to my newsletter to be kept informed.)

The Menindee Memorial Loop is a tangible message that our politicians need to experience - a magnificent collaboration, stitched with love, care and hope from people all over the world. We care about the River and we want to support the Baakantji people and amplify their concerns about how their river is currently being devastated by too much water being taken out for big agriculture. The government has a duty of care to hear us all and act appropriately on our behalf.

To join Julie in her work to highlight the Baarka, see her website.

The River, Our Mother (Baaka ngamaka’inana), 31 August to 31 October 2024

Gallery76 @ Embroiderers' Guild NSW, 76 Queen Street, Concord West