Memoryscoping the Bunurong Coast: A project-based PhD speculating on the intimate and complex histories of a personally significant place
There’s this historical marker at Wreck Beach which has a couple of quirky little anecdotes. It’s the weathered bluestone cairn that can still be seen on the verge of the beach carpark but it’s also an uproarious memorial to accidental misadventure.
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After a day spent browsing cluttered filing cabinets and listening to snippets of oral histories in the Wonthaggi Historical Society
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I have a close personal connection to the local history museum, my grandparents – Arthur and Nell Quilford – were founding members of what has come to be known as the Wonthaggi and District Historical Society
Continue readingThis work was developed on the unceded lands and waterways of the Boon wurrung and Woi Wurrung language groups of the Kulin Nations. Much of the fieldwork, including visitation, writing and documentation, was undertaken on the lands of the Bunurong/Boonwurrung people.
The Bunurong/Boonwurrung people are the first storytellers of these lands. Their sovereignty was never ceded. This is, and always will be Aboriginal Land.
I respectfully acknowledge the Ancestors and Elders, past, present and emerging.
In terms of my position as a visitor on those lands, I state my lineage and purpose. I am Rees Quilford. I am a fourth-generation settler of Welsh-Irish descent. I am a writer, communications professional and a PhD candidate with RMIT University.
I was born and currently live on Bunurong/Boonwurrung land. I try to tread lightly, understand my place and listen to what it’s telling me.