A bronze casting of an Aboriginal stringybark canoe by artists Julie Squires, Shellie Smith and Daniella Chedzy – part of Lake Macquarie City Council’s Fernleigh Awabakal Shared Track project – has been severed from its base and stolen. A police investigation of the theft is now underway.
The bronze canoe was a major component of Gunyah and Canoe, installed in the Lake Macquarie suburb of Belmont, in NSW’s Hunter Valley, five months ago. It was cast from a life-sized bark canoe, which was crafted in the traditional method by a group of Aboriginal community members led by Worimi canoe-maker Luke Russell. The sculpture also included castings of actual flathead fish and handmade fish-hooks and twine.