Cultural Heritage @ Guwarri & Jilirrgun.
Guwarri/Jilirrgun (the Town Beach area on Roebuck Bay) has always been a place for living for Yawuru people, other countrymen and those who came to visit and live in the area. Roebuck Bay has provided resources for thousands of years. It is a place that marks the arrival and departures of people and goods, including the thousands indentured Aboriginal and Asian pearling workers, and other seafarers who lost their life at sea.
Guided by an interpretation team, landscape architects MudMap Studio worked with Shire of Broome to deliver a landscape concept plan, public art, cemetery restoration, interpretation trail and two community art projects to share the rich cultural and historical stories of Guwarri/Jilirrgun (the Town Beach area in Broome, on Roebuck Bay). The interpretation team, consisting of Nyamba Buru Yawuru and the Broome Historical Society, was established to lead the development of the creative and interactive interpretation elements at the Broome Town Beach Redevelopment.
When the project began in 2017, the site was degraded and primarily a dirt carpark. The creative master planning, innovative art, interpretation, memorial, and community projects have brought life back to the space, allowing the historical and cultural significance of the site to be preserved and the old stories captured for future generations.
Of this project, the 2023 AILA Landscape Architecture Awards jury said:
“An exemplary model of cultural heritage integration, this project is profoundly significant to the Yawuru people and the wider community. The site encapsulates diverse historical layers, from Yawuru culture to World War II remnants, and meticulously preserves them through a thoughtful, inclusive design response. The project team’s framing of community as collaborator represents an industry-leading approach to engagement. By valuing the expertise of community contributors, including artists, historians and Elders as paid consultants, the studio demonstrates a genuine commitment to relationship-building. Additionally, the inclusion of youth-focused groups showcases a progressive and inclusive perspective. The jury commends the project team on their processes for facilitating cultural use of the landscape, and embedding economic opportunities into the design via the employment of local youth. The layered response thoughtfully considers the site’s cultural, economic and environmental futures, embedding the principles of a bio-cultural landscape and embracing the saltwater cultural obligations and practices entwined in place.”
2023 AILA National Award of Excellence for Cultural Heritage, 2023 AILA National Award for Regional Achievement, AILA 2023 WA Award of Excellence for Cultural Heritage, AILA 2023 WA Award for Regional Achievement, AILA 2023 WA Medal
Awarded to: MudMap Studio
Client: Shire of Broome
On Yawuru Country
Artists: Broome Historical Society (interpretation and art team), Nyamba Buru Yawuru (interpretation team art team + artists), Broome High School (tile project collaborators), Martha Lee (Yawuru artist), Maxine Charlie (Yawuru artist), Terricita Corpus (Yawuru ceramic artist), Agunya (Timber artists and social enterprise), Arnold Smith (Cultural artist and mentor), Paula Hart (artist), Chris Maher (artist and tour guide/local historian)
Cultural advisors: Jimmy Edgar (Elder/Cultural advisor), Bart Pigram (Cultural ecotourism/cultural advisor), Scape-ism (artist and concrete fabricator), Concreto (concrete fabrication)
Other contributors: Josh Byrne and Associates (landscape architects to undertake documentation and construction administration on the landscape works), Corrective services - Regional Youth Justice Services, Ian Hudson (Aboriginal Peer Mentor), PCYC – midnight basketball (youth contribution to tile project), the Air Raid Memorial Working Group, Seed Studio (Graphic design and landscape architecture support), Printing Ideas Broome (signage printing)
Images: MudMap Studio, Shire of Broome & Pia Boyer