Issue 13. 6 September 2010.pdf [PDF File, 1.7 MB] - UWA Staff - The ...

elationships
building the farm
Students and Pingelly locals record oral
history at the exhibition
A Pause for Pingelly was a photographic
project where everybody in the town was
asked to stop at 10am on a Tuesday
and photograph where they were or
what they were doing. More than 80
townspeople took part and the students
whipped the 120 photographs into an
exhibition in the Town Hall by Friday.
“Then we ran a storytelling project,”
A/Professor Revell said. “The students
met social commentator Susan Maushart,
who brings together oral histories for ABC
radio’s StoryCatcher program. They
learned about the methods and
techniques of recording oral histories and
had to come up with at least 10 people
for Susan’s radio program and website.
“Over the week the students and
townsfolk all got together with Susan and
her radio team to share their respective
skills and to professionally record a set of
BELOW: Some of the wooden block
prints that captured the Pingelly mystery
personal stories about Pingelly and its
people. One big aim of this exercise was
to assist the community with its own
program of storytelling beyond the Rural
Studio.”
Some of the stories were also part of the
exhibition at the Town Hall.
One of the great stories of Pingelly is the
‘falling stones’. A/Professor Revell said
that on March 20, 1957, stones, ranging
in size from pebbles to duck eggs,
began raining down from the sky. The
extraordinary event made the pages of
newspapers including The Paris Tribune.
“This mysterious phenomenon also
happened in other wheatbelt
communities between 1946 and 1962,”
he said. “There have been all sorts of
extravagant theories and scientific
explanations, but the traditional
custodians of the land generally believe
that it was a sign that the land was being
misused.”
The students produced laser-cut
wooden block prints with their responses
to the falling stones mystery.
“All these activities broke the ice with
the locals, who then started talking to
us about the town, the greater district
and the Future Farm. They were then
really open to the students’ designs for
their town and surrounds, which
included a new civic park and wetlands
area to manage stormwater, as well as
to create a meeting place for continued
sharing of stories; and planted
walkways throughout the town to
connect significant and beautiful places.
“Other design projects included
rejuvenating sites and facilities for
visiting scholars’ accommodation, an
environmental research and renewable
energy facility and recycling disused
buildings and empty lots for greater
civic enjoyment.
“I like to think we laid the foundations for
the meeting between the Shire of
Pingelly and the University this month,”
A/Professor Revell said.
“Next time I hope the Rural Design
Studio will go to the Future Farm – and
we’ll be taking the community with us.”
The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 6 September 2010 5