Unearthed Platters for Parliament gifting
I have already written about this creative process for this commission in a previous post, so today’s post is about the joy of delivering them personally to Parliament House, May 2026.
On a magnificent Canberra crisp morning, I drove my wares to the loading bay underneath the building, delivered my precious works into the bowels of that time warp of a place, and then proceeded to park and visit Parliament. There I was met by the wonderful women Katie and Emily, who had the original vision to source my work and who gave constructive ideas into the collaboration of creating the bespoke platters. I was then given the great honour of a behind the scenes tour of the brilliant building, shown the history and the vision of its inception, and privy to seeing countless works of art rarely seen, but revered with great respect within the building. I walked through the gardens that are designed to flower at various times of the year so there is always a showstopper place for parliamentarians to film in, admired the detail and workmanship that goes into landscaping those spaces. Many of the contractors that tend to the gardens, maintain the upholstery and interior spaces have been employed to do so since the 80’s. The pride of working within these spaces feels ever present.
It was incredible to see the place in which the gifting takes place, in the Speakers offices and to get a feeling for the importance of those wedges of clay that started in my little studio months before. So far they have been given to delegations from Bangaladesh, Malaysia and Timor Este. It was incredibly humbling to hear that those giving the platters love them, and enjoy explaining the stories of the waterways that they reflect and represent.
Walking through the Press Club wing (which I had no idea really existed) made me laugh when the guests on Insiders that past weekend were loitering around the ABC doors as if ready to follow a hunch at any moment.
It was such an honour and a day I will never forget.
