I visited the Rabbit Proof Fence in January of 2021. At the section I stopped at, I found a 1.5m length of wire that had rusted free, which I took. It forms the outside ring of this work. The intent and title of the fence has changed over the years, with the currently titled State Barrier Fence running between Kalbarri on Nanda land and Jerdacuttup, east of Ravensthorpe, on Wudjari Noongar land. It is reportedly maintained to minimise the movements of emu and wild dogs into areas of crops and livestock. The Rabbit Proof Fence refers to the three earliest fences, erected between 1902 and 1907.
The piece of the old fence I visited was on Wiilman Noongar land, near Dumbleyung. At the time WA was not yet half-way through an almost two-year-long controlled border measure. For much of that time entry into WA was restricted to keep out potential carriers of the Covid-19 virus, leaving most of us cut off from the rest of the country, and the world.
Successful colonisation requires settlers to take land by way of making border fences, and to patrol those lines of incursion. As a reflection on this, my piece, already taken, is gesture of unwelcome. It is an unwearable piece of jewellery; the body is barred from admission. As its maker I cannot wear it either, a nod to the fact that while we own the fence, the fence also owns us.
22.02.2022
