‘The Sea Of Hands’ By Frances Belle Parker – A Symbol Of Resilience

BY RENEE DALLOW

The National Organisation For Aboriganal And Torres Strait Islander Reconciliation And Rights (ANTaR) is all about bringing people together and sharing cultural arts with the community through community involvement.

For many years now ANTaR has organised an event called The Sea Of Hands which has previously been presented at Parliament House Canberra and at Baragaroo. This year the location is Rathborne Lodge at The Botanical Gardens. The chosen artist for this year’s Sea Of Hands, is Frances Belle Parker, who has designed a display centred on the regeneration of banksias after cultural burning has taken place. The design, marked out on the ground with the contribution of 10,000 hands, contributed by members of the community and people involved with the project, will light up at night with accompanying crackling sounds to emulate the sounds of fire burning through native bushland.

FRANCES BELL PARKER’S CAREER

Parker is a proud Yaegle woman who hails from the Maclean area. “The yeagle are from a very small area around the east coast near Yamba. It’s an area where the river system symbolises a woman’s reproductive system when viewed from the sky”. This heritage has been a great influence on Parker’s art.

A winner of The Blake Art Prize when she was still in her teens, Parker, explains that her vision of a rainbow serpent with the tongue of a crucifix was inspired by both the river and the fact that her mother is an Anglican minister. The Blake Prize celebrates spiritualism in art.

THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS YEARS SEA OF HANDS

Frances Belle Parker’s description of the beauty of depicting the banksia in the Botanical Gardens is indeed unique.

“To me the banksia pods represent little people. You feel like you are being watched and protected by these people. They are individual characters, covered in hair with big bulging eyes. When they are burned they come back even stronger than before. So strong is their spirit.”

Cultural burning is something that has been handed down through the centuries and is still taught by the elders. The organisers of the Botanical Gardens display have also turned to the elders for advice. This elders told Parker that they will give her whatever she needs to create the design that she has envisioned.

The Sea Of Hands is a fully immersive audio visual experience and is all about healing country. The imprints of hands will be arranged in the form of banksia leaves surrounding burnt, charred banksias which, when lit up with bright glowing yellow and red lights, appear to be burning. Toward the end of the exhibit the lights change to soft blues and greens representing regrowth and regeneration.

People are encouraged to visit Rathborne Lodge within the Gardens to place their hand prints and become part of this event

April 4-16. Rathborne Lodge, Royal Botanical Gardens Sydney. More Info: www.rbgsydney.nsw.gov.au/seaofhands