A Story of Water

Commissioned by the City of Canterbury Bankstown Council, A Story of Water is a water tank mural created by Christina Huynh at Marco Reserve in Panania. The water tank was commissioned along with 4 other tanks in nearby suburbs following the CrossCurrents: Stories of Water program in 2012 by Bankstown Arts Centre.

'“The concept design I created for the water tank at Marco Reserve in Panania features a story of Water and its three accompanying energies. It is a piece about how if we nurture our use of water and its resources, it provides back to us the beauty of the landscapes.

The first is Water as chaos, turbulence, and catastrophe – the waves are symbolic of perilous journeys Vietnamese refugees endure during migration by boat in the late 1970s. The design ends where it begins, describing the organic nature of life with its highs and lows. The petals of the native Swamp Goodenia represent gold and how during times of hardship, for the Vietnamese boat people, Water was more precious than gold.

The second theme of Water is represented as a symbol of connection and harmony – I wanted to depict a stillness and appreciation for how lucky we are to have access to fresh water. I took reference from a photograph of the workshop participants in the CrossCurrents 2012 program, which depicts a group of people holding a ceramic bowl together. I had included in the design Native Violet, which appears most lively and dips its petals into the bowl to greet a curious little fish. This character symbolises fragility and the need to nurture its environment and our natural landscapes.

The third and final theme is an imaginary world residing among water lilies and tools created from our natural world or from using our hands. It shows origami of a lotus and canoe and a weaved basket (inspired by the Samoan traditional weaving workshop in the CrossCurrents program). It also indicates up-cycled trinkets, including a watering can (the same tin my grandmother used to hold Water during their time and journey on the boats). The river of water lilies continuing to land and then to the downpour (volume of Water) also represent catchment and water cycles expressing where it comes from. The middle of the design is the intended focal point describing what we do with water as a life resource.”

This video was created by Bankstown Arts Centre as part of their Crosscurrents program. Crosscurrents explores cultural relationships to water through traditional art forms. In 2012 Crosscurrents has been working with Samoan weaving and a Chinese calligraphy and lantern making groups. The project also ran a series of water education and art workshops exploring traditional cultural relationships to water.