One more striking piece of artwork from a new series of sculptures for the ngurrak barring has recently landed in the Montrose town square.
Titled Storm Leaves by acclaimed artist Anton McMurray, the five-part series is taking root across the Dandenong Ranges and celebrates the strength and beauty of the local landscape and community in the wake of the devastating 2021 storms.
This July, two more sculptures were unveiled, one on display at the Ways of Seeing trailhead in front of the Montrose Library, and another at the Resilience trailhead at the intersection of Belview Terrace and School Track, Tremont, near the 1000 Steps.
Montrose locals noticed their piece of the series being installed on 10 July.
“The site for the sculpture was decided on to mark the spot a gum was lost in the storms,” a social media from the township group read.
Commissioned for ngurrak barring, the five-piece installation by McMurray reflects the natural resilience of the region and are handcrafted from salvaged Cypress logs that are remnants of the major storms that tore through the area.
McMurray, who grew up in goranwarrabil (the Dandenong Ranges), had already previously unveiled two of the Storm Leaves works.
Locals may have already noticed some of the iconic Storm Leaves works on display in Kallista at Grant’s Picnic Ground and another at the entrance to the Birdsland Reserve in Belgrave Heights.
With a budget set to the tune of $2.1 million, this year will see the ngurrak barring’s completion of the 39 kilometre art and cultural experience project.
Weaving through the Dandenong Ranges, the trails will establish new spaces for education, cultural expression and social gathering.
Other projects commissioned included Peter McIlwain’s artwork series, Pathmarker Birds at Birdsland Reserve in Belgrave Heights and Renate Crow’s Tawny Frogmouth sculpture of Tawny Frogmouth at the Karwarra Australian Plant Garden and Nursery in Kalorama.
ngurrak barring (noo-rak bar-ring) means ‘mountain paths’ in Woiwurrung. The name was provided by Senior Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Doreen Wandin-Garvey.
The trails are set to be sectioned into five themed experiences: Ways of Seeing, Country, Community, Activism and Resilience, featuring permanent artworks along the way.
An Architectural Node will to sit along the trails of each of the themes, acting as reflective spaces along the trail.
The Architectural Nodes are collaborative and will be crafted by First Peoples design studios, Djinjama and COLA Studio.
The fifth and final piece for Storm Leaves will find it’s home in the Karwarra Gardens in Kalorama later this year.
