The River

Euraba Artists and Papermakers Live and work in Toomelah and Boggabilla, Australia
Aunty Joy Duncan born 1941 in Moree, Australia; Aunty May (Beverley) Hinch born 1946 in Moree; Thelma Bartman born 1964 in Goodiwindi, Australia; Leonie Binge born 1966 in Goodiwindi; Lola Binge born 1968 in Goodiwindi; Margaret Duncan born 1960; Christine Dumas born 1956; Marlene Hinch born 1949; Deborah Knox born 1958 in Dalby, Australia; Stella O’Halloran born 1944; and Gloria Woodbridge born 1948

The River (2012) was presented in Building 138, in the Industrial Precinct on Cockatoo Island for the 18th Biennale of Sydney (2012).

Embodying time and space, Monika Grzymala’s architectural interventions are site specific, temporary, often ephemeral installations, based on the language of the line as mental and physical perception. Within a representation of relations of the human body to the environment, she uses with a wide array of materials, including handmade Washi paper, adhesive tapes, lead wire, confetti, leaves and other linear objects found in the surrounding landscape.

Euraba Artists and Papermakers is a group of northern New South Wales Aboriginal artists specialising in handmade paper art. Euraba is situated in the border town of Boggabilla and is owned and operated by the Goomeroi people of Toomelah and Boggabilla. In the Goomeroi language euraba means place of healing, making reference to the healing leaves of the eura tree and the word ba meaning place. Cotton is a major crop grown in the Boggabilla region. Cotton offcuts from the local clothing industry are used to produce cotton rag pulp for their paper. Euraba have taken traditional European papermaking methods and have combined this with their own contemporary indigenous sensibilities.

Artist Statement
Monika Grzymala: The River is dedicated to Aboriginal people and their land Australia. Through this collaboration, I re-learned to see land and art. While travelling, the idea suggested itself: I am in the landscape and the landscape is in me, as John Olsen once said. The site-specific installation for all our relations is created with essential base materials from Aboriginal communities, including handmade sheets from Euraba Paper Company in Boggabilla, and weaving material from Boolarng Nangamai (‘Together Dreaming’) Aboriginal Art + Culture Studio in Gerringong. Euraba means ‘place of healing’ and is derived from the name of the former mission in Boggabilla. It is also derived from the eura tree traditionally used for medicine. In their logo, Euraba has a Hollander beater with water flowing around. This main element for papermaking originates from the MacIntyre River. Water always linked Euraba women to their culture. Here, at a place of healing, the earth and water bear plants, giving fibres for paper pulp. From time immemorial, the river was focus of life in Boggabilla. The art of weaving at Boolarng Nangamai crosses paths via life’s journey in the Aboriginal tradition. Living knowledge and holding our world together in cultural awareness. The River connects with the land in a multi-vocal current to trace back towards shared creation and identity. Collectively composed, in unity through diversity, another cycle of life is completed.

Euraba Artists and Papermakers: We are Goomeroi people, from Boggabilla and Toomelah in north-west New South Wales. Our art stems from our knowledge of this land and the stories of our ancestors. At Euraba we have created a place and a reason for us all to come together. The process of making paper and art at Euraba has been a journey over 12 years that has united us with our people: especially our elders and children, as well as with wonderful people from all around the world. By exploring techniques and experimenting with natural fibres to make our paper we have come closer to the people, the land and the river of this region. Art has allowed us to gain a sense of pride and identity and we want this for our young people so we can help them express their feelings and find their way.