June 19 - July 12
Land and soil is fundamental to all who inhabit Australia, from the original custodians, the British who came in search of expansion in 1788, to migrants who have arrived ever since. As a family who migrated their dreams to an ancient land already full of dreaming, I have always understood the benefit of propagating story. Our family has had a connection to land for countless generations, with the gardening of land sustaining us in two continents. Even today, the first thing my eighty nine year old mother does is visit her garden, her land, her soil. Until recently, our sense of place has come wholly from this connection, but as elders pass and assimilation prevails, our connection to land & soil is changing, soon it will only be relayed by story. Memories are contained within land & soil, and the land & soil we all inhabit carry multiple stories - a country is defined by the stories it chooses to tell and the ones it does not.
- Lee Salomone, 2025
