Traversing fragments of the remnant iron-bark forest of Western Sydney

With Lucas Ihlein and Ian Milliss, Olivia Barr, Saskia Beudel.

Prior to colonization, the area that is now known as Western Sydney was covered in iron bark forest. This forest was almost totally removed for grazing and firewood, yet tiny pockets of remnant trees remain including a small cluster adjacent to a factory on Roberts Road in Greenacre and along a ridgeway in Hurlstone Park. During the Biennale (and beyond its timeframe) an extended action will occur that roughly maps the area of land where the forest stood. This mapping will take the form of a series of fragmented walks, whereby the process of walking becomes an event that temporarily marks out the forest’s imagined edge. What I anticipate becoming interesting during this walk are the plethora of current boundaries (fence-lines, roads, etc) encountered along the way – all expressions of the cadastral grid that signifies an ongoing process of colonization and privatization - which will perpetually interrupt the walk’s imagined) continuity. This walk will be developed and carried out with a range of people over a number of months, with the aim to generate discussions and written texts from the process.