Topic: The memory landscape of the Cowpastures in memorials, monuments, and murals.
Lecture by Dr Ian Willis OAM.
Abstract
All around the community in the Macarthur region are cultural artefacts that are representations of the settlercolonial narrative of the Cowpastures, which was variously a colonial frontier, a government reserve, and a formal
region.
Today, the material culture of the Cowpastures is hidden in plain sight and appears to have been ‘forgotten’ by the
community. It includes roads and bridges; parks and reserves; historic sites; books, paintings and articles;
conferences, seminars, and workshops; monuments, memorials and murals; community commemorations,
celebrations and anniversaries; and other cultural heritage.
The presentation will examine examples of this material culture and illustrate the multi-layered nature of the
Cowpastures story for a range of actors. These storytellers have re-affirmed the Cowpastures settler-colonial
narrative over the last two centuries and illustrate the contested nature of the Cowpastures memory landscape.