Djinanginy kaartdijin, Yaakanup ‘Seeing and Understanding Place of Long Neck Turtle’ 2023

The Noongar place name for Lakelands is Yaakanap ‘Place of the Yaakan (turtle)’. The contemporary artwork contains a discovery trail of abstracted shapes and forms representing themes of dek & barna (flora & fauna); kep (water); biddi (path); Waangaamaap Bilya (Serpentine River) and kuljak/marlee (black swan).

The concept was developed through collaborative workshops held at Winjan Aboriginal Community Hall with the Local Noongar Reference Group, and local Bindjareb artists, with contributions from a Lakelands Primary School Year 6 class.

The artwork is an important acknowledgement of First Nations People and their deep connection with the site.

I had the pleasure of working with some wonderful people on the Lakelands station project. On a project of this scale, there’s a huge team working behind the scenes to enable delivery. From collaborating once again with artist @kardy.kreations ; the Local Noongar Reference Group; the Binjareb artists; Mia, Helen and the super supportive team at @apparatus.art.culture ; Sarah at @metronetperth ; Troy, Paulo, Simon and Dean at @adco_constructions ; the PTA crew; Steve at FreoBlast… I thank you all.

🙏🏻 With special thanks to the Local Noongar Reference Group (Frank Nannup, George Walley, Ricky Ugle and Elsie Ugle) and Binjareb Artists (Lesley Pickett and Gloria Kearing).

View our behind the scenes video by METRONET here.