TWO prominent Quandamooka artists are set to create iconic works - likely to be the subject of many selfie moments - as entry points to Amity Point and Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island.
Belinda Close and Delvene Cockatoo-Collins will design the Quandamooka-inspired artworks.
Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation chief executive officer Cameron Costello said the place markers would evoke a powerful sense of the vibrant and deep connections Quandamooka people have to Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island).
"These place markers will acknowledge the depths of history etched into the fabric of Mooloomba (Point Lookout) and Pulan Pulan (Amity Point), an experience that extends from the contemporary moment and into deep time," he said.
"While Quandamooka people already read this landscape and its marks, these new place markers will allow visitors, residents and strangers to better understand the ancestral connections between people and place, to be poetically expressed by artists who are of this place."
Redland mayor Karen William said the council, as lead for this project, had contracted QYAC to design and install the Quandamooka-inspired place markers.
"Significant background work has already taken place on the best locations for the statements, as well as community consultation undertaken in 2018 to inform the artist's project brief," Cr Williams said.
"Proposed locations, which will be part of the next stage of community engagement, are Cabarita Park at Amity Point (Pulan Pulan) and near the pedestrian crossing at the top of Mooloomba Road, Point Lookout (Mooloomba) where there is currently a small information hut.
"It will be exciting to see what Belinda and Delvene create, merging their own inspirations with those expressed by the community."
Cr Peter Mitchell said concept designs for the artworks would be released to the community in the middle of this year, with the works to be installed this year.
"These place markers will have the potential to become iconic statements, attract visitors and be the subject of many tourists' and locals' selfie moments sent around the world, increasing knowledge of the island and the Quandamooka stories behind the sculptures," Cr Mitchell said.
Acting Tourism Industry Development Minister Di Farmer said the place markers project was supported by the Queensland government's $24.75 million economic transition strategy to support the North Stradbroke Island's economy as it transitions from sand mining at the end of 2019.
"These place markers, created by two outstanding local artists, will be stunning entry points into the rich history of the Quandamooka people on the island for visitors and locals alike," Ms Farmer said.
For more information, visit yoursay.redland.qld.gov.au/entry-statements-for-amity-point-and-point-lookout.
