From Buckingbong to Birrego

In September 2014, Wiradjuri leaders, community members, artists, curators, writers and farmers met at the Murrumbidgee River near Narrandera to walk 50 kilometres towards the south. 

For three days they walked through modern farmland, to a property owned by the Strong family, leaders in the emerging field of ecological agriculture. Over these three days, the walking party learned about local history, the capacities of land and people to produce food and fibre, and the factors that promoted or undermined cultural and ecological resilience. At night in each campsite, special events occurred, where the walkers and members of the public enjoyed artworks made by local and visiting artists, responding to the surrounding landscape and site.

The result of this experience includes an eBook, Buckingbong to Birrego: walking into country, which explores the relevance of local environmental and social history of life today in the the Narrandera district. Wagga Wagga photographer and walker, Jacob Raupach, documented the journey and these pictures allow the reader to retrace the steps of the walking party.

George Main, National Museum of Australia curator says, “Modern farming is shaped by history and culture, by memories and stories active inside minds and paddocks. The walkers sought to understand and interpret – in visual art and writing – how the big issues facing people and land in the Riverina today are bound in complex ways to our shared past.”

What did the walkers learn from the land they slept upon, from the farmers they spoke with, from the Wiradjuri leaders they walked beside? How might these understandings help to bolster the wellbeing of Australian farmland, and the many people who depend upon it? These questions are deeply considered in Buckingbong to Birrego: walking into country.

The walk was created in partnership with The Cad Factory, National Museum of Australia, Graham Strong and the Wiradjuri Condobolin Corporation. From the 29 July onwards the eBook will be available to view online from The Cad Factory website, www.cadfactory.com.au