Reflective Piece
For my Stradbroke reflective
piece, I chose to do a map of Stradbroke Island, with what I thought to be
important elements of the trip represented in 3D paper form. There are many
reasons why I chose to do this. Firstly, I believe that it is a way of putting
everything in perspective, something that was really emphasized throughout the
trip. It was also a way to show the different elements of the trip. Some things,
such as the tent and the ferry, simply show things such as transport and accommodation.
The patrol flag was used to show where we swam, and the jetty is where we went
night fishing. Other parts of the map
however, represent the things we learnt and the aspects of Stradbroke Island.
The first and perhaps most important being the indigenous culture. I represented
this on the map as the art gallery in Dunwich, which was also one of the
highlights of my trip. This was not the only place we visited that had indigenous
significance, but it is one that really stood out for me. I also chose to use
the indigenous name for Stradbroke, “Minjerribah” as the title, which represents
and acknowledges their 21000 year history on the island as well as their
ownership and connection with the land. Another aspect of Stradbroke is its
unique ecosystem and environment. I chose to use two of the native plants found
there as well as a dolphin to represent this, but they are, of course, only a
snapshot of what the environment is really like. The third aspect is the island
is the sand mining. Undoubtedly a controversial issue, it was something that I’d
already made up my mind about before leaving – sand mining is bad and must be
stopped. However, after listening to various talks and hearing all sides of the
story, I became much more open to the idea, to the point at which I found myself
arguing for mining in our debate. I
represented the mining with a truck. I also made seedlings to represent the
rehabilitation that occurs after the mining takes place. The final aspect
represented in my piece is the history. Once again only a snapshot, I created
the community hall, which is one of many historical buildings on the island.
Overall Stradbroke was a unique and eye opening experience and I tried my
hardest to represent all elements of it in this piece.
Photo used under Creative Commons from zayzayem