Awakening Exhibition

This exhibition showcases photographic and audio-visual pieces documenting artworks created in Margaret River, Western Australia, by Aboriginal Traditional Owners (Wardandi) Vivian Brockman Webb and daughter Mitchella Hutchins with Scottish Born/Australian Land Artist Elaine Clocherty. The artists have worked on over 20 artworks, together, combining thousands of years of Wardandi Bora ceremonial sand art traditions, and contemporary, site-specific art.

The exhibition expresses the spirituality, cultural knowledge, and enduring connection to Country held by the Wardandi people and those who call it home. Each artwork is about connection and tells a unique story of Place. Ephemeral they are created from natural materials including barks, seedpods, leaves, sands and flowers. 

Inspired by Dr Daisy Abbott’s 2024/2025 Decolonising the British Empire Exhibition of 1938 through Augmented Reality Narratives which looked at the original 1938 exhibition from a post-colonial perspective, we hope to link our work considering what ‘indigenous’ means in Scotland and Australia. We want to explicitly link these nations in the context of the Commonwealth, spark dialogue about what it means to be a human outside of colonial constraints, and meet each other with all our diversity as people of this planet, considering our primary role as caretakers of our families, communities  and this living planet and all its ecosystems that support us.

Through this exhibition we hope to inspire the Glasgow community to join us to create a uniquely Glaswegian Land Artwork at Bellahouston Park as part of Glasgow2026 Festival, drawing on the art deco history of the park and it’s position as a natural urban space. 150 participants will help create the artwork over three days, 28-30 July.

The exhibition is FREE to browse at Edward House across 21 July - 6 August between the hours of 12 noon and 5pm Tuesday - Thursday. For our next Platter and Patter event, we're delighted to have researcher Dr Daisy Abbott joining us to discuss their project Decolonising the British Empire Exhibition of 1938 - book your tickets today and come along to enjoy a warm bowl of soup and learn more!