The Cross River Rail Delivery Authority is creating a public art trail at the seven surface stations on Brisbane’s southside that it is rebuilding to improve accessibility for local communities.
Benches at each station (Dutton Park, Fairfield, Yeronga, Yeerongpilly, Moorooka, Rocklea, Salisbury) feature brass plaques that tell stories about Country, culture and heritage.
Each station has a single gecko seated high on the face of a bench – inspired by where you would find a real gecko warming in the sun.
The station geckos welcome and represent good-will to travellers, just like how a gecko might be welcome around your home to control insects.
Recently, artwork installation was completed at Dutton Park station.
Besides the gecko, Dutton Park also features plaques representing directionally placed boomerangs, kangaroo tracks and feathers to help guide travellers as they exit and enter the station.
As a focal point in the middle, plaques representing the pigface plant find their place, grounding the design as an important local and native groundcover species.
Mount Coot-Tha, which is visible from the suburb, is also included on some of the benches as the most significant feature of the landscape.
Each station artwork was designed through the Birrunga Gallery Hub, an Aboriginal owned and operated business, which specialises in Cultural narrative artwork and graphic design.
Birrunga Wiradyuri, the founder and principal artist responsible for the station art, seeks to follow and practice the central Wiradyuri Lore of Yindyamarra: to do something slowly, to respect, to be gentle, to be polite and to honour.
