New insights into historic Indigenous trail

A new exhibition at the ANU School of Art gives fresh insight into the history and heritage values of the Indigenous heritage trail which runs from the Snowy Mountains to Australia's east coast.
 
Known as the Bundian Way, the historic 380-kilometre pathway runs from Mt Kosciuszko to Twofold Bay on the New South Wales far south coast.
 
It mostly follows wild country via local roads and tracks and was used by the first Australians, who showed European settlers the pathway to help them to get supplies from the Monaro region to the coast at Eden.
 
The exhibition Beyond Balawan: Visual Arts responses to the Bundian Way at the ANU School of Art coincides with the launch of a new book about the track by naturalist John Blay, On Track: Searching Out the Bundian Way.
 
"I've walked it various times and I love it. Each time I walk it I find more," Mr Blay said.
 
"I get an amazing buzz out of walking the Bundian Way with Aboriginal people, and especially when we sit around the fire at night and tell stories about it."
 
The art exhibition features work from School of Art students who have taken field studies trips to the Bundian Way to learn about the significance of the pathway.
 
ANU Field Studies Coordinator and School of Art lecturer Amelia Zaraftis said the program allowed students to connect and forge enduring links with the local community.
 
"I think every student would say they've had a reconciliation journey through the program and that's reflected in their art making, but it comes out in very different ways," she said.
 
"It's like a living museum, in a way. It's an opportunity to not only not lose something, but also to sustain and continue the existence of it," she said.
 
The exhibition includes works from 23 students.
 
Field Studies Coordinator and School of Art Lecturer Amanda Stuart said the works were the personal responses of students.
 
"It is also about breaking down barriers and pulling together for this shared knowledge," she said.
 
"In that way it preserves the Bundian Way, because it makes people excited about interacting and sharing it."
 
The Bundian Way is not yet open to the general public but plans are underway to open the High Country and Twofold Bay sections of the track over the next six months.
 
The book launch and the exhibition opening will be at the ANU School of Art on Wednesday 2 September.