Marmalade Issue 5, 2017

‘The challenge to white
Australia is to address
a question. How does
the nation move from
a state of colonial
anxiety that refuses
genuine recognition and
engagement to a concept
of locating ‘Indigenous
theories, methodologies,
and methods at the centre,
not the periphery’ of
our society?’
The work of Monks, a Sydney-based Wajarri Yamatji woman
with Indigenous, English and Dutch ancestry draws from her
diverse heritage. Her furniture range creates a meeting point
where Indigenous philosophies of sustainability, innovation
and collaboration merge with contemporary art and design
principles. The series marlu (kangaroo) from 2016 features
wabarn-wabarn (bounce) chair with undardu (kangaroo
skin blankets), walarnu (boomerang) chair and nyinajimanha
(sitting together) stools and table and thalanara (rug). The
powerful pieces use the recognizable language of furniture
design yet seamlessly weave cultural narratives, which
beguile and intrigue. Two worlds are colliding but nothing
clashes or contradicts, instead unity is found and celebrated.
In nyinajimanha (sitting together) a round table and chairs
create a striking balance in polished blackwood echoing the
sleek minimal furniture popular in industrial style cafes. But
these choices are not just functional or aesthetic they are
created to tell the story of people connecting and sharing
knowledge. The chairs are positioned close to the ground
to connect us to the Earth. At the centre of the table, a
woven basket with both knitting needles and traditional
weavings are in mid-flow, connecting both cultures through
their similarities and craft. Monks is showing the viewer, or
user, that Australia is a complex environment where wildly
different lifestyles and races exist (not always in harmony)
but it is possible to find connection and meaning in our
plurality, which brings us closer together.
For Monks, living in a city like Sydney is an opportunity to
connect with her culture and respect the land of the Gadigal
people in a multicultural landscape of many influences.
The search for the ‘real Aboriginal’ is replaced by genuine
meaning and understanding of history and our future. In
her own acknowledgement to country she states:
“We are all connected to this place as we live, work and
play on Aboriginal Land. Today 228 years after the invasion
I stand here as part of the design industry where we talk
about sustainability and eco footprints influencing our
design. But for the custodians of this land the philosophies
of interconnectedness and respecting the Earth is a way of
life, of being. As the designers, the creatives and the future
makers, you have the ability to drive change. We are creating
the history of now with the objects and spaces we create and
the future we want to live in, for me this responsibility means
taking lead from the custodians of this land and I thank them
for imparting me with this knowledge.” 4
Earlier this year I attended the Place, Politics and Privilege
Conference at Victoria University. The keynote lecture
by Professor Tony Birch talked about Aboriginal and
white Australia’s differences but also stressed the need
for collaboration if we are to resolve significant issues
like climate change. His words soothed some of my own
cynicism, recognising the power of working together and
fusing knowledge which Monks’s furniture so beautifully
illustrates. But as I have also witnessed in my own career
these collaborations often eschew the Aboriginal voice. In an
article Climate Change, Recognition and Social Place-Making
Birch writes:
“The challenge to white Australia is to address a question.
How does the nation move from a state of colonial anxiety
that refuses genuine recognition and engagement to a
ISSUE 05 / 27