Case Study: 'Maku Wunkun' Towards Tomorrow - Charter Hall, Koskela & Tiarna Herczeg

What began as an idea and desire to showcase and celebrate First Nations peoples, art and cultures was brought to life when Charter Hall partnered with Koskela, in collaboration with Tiarna Herczeg, to create 'Maku Wunkun' Towards Tomorrow - a bespoke installation designed to explore the diversity of the land through shape, colour, and texture.

Tiarna Herczeg is a Kuku Yalanji artist with strong connections to the Darug community. Now living and working on Gadigal lands, Herczeg continues to experiment and develop her practice as a multidisciplinary artist, exploring the intimacy of Country. 

Maku Wunkun depicts a journey along Country towards the future. The installation work explores the diversity of the land through shape, colour, and texture. Each shape is a depiction of Country that has been marked by the artist's own voyage through life.

The different shapes symbolise Country and sit harmoniously balanced near one another, leaving space in between for travellers to embark on their own journey on Maku Winkun / towards tomorrow.

This living artwork serves to commemorate land, acting as a physical reminder to honour, care, respect and acknowledge Country now and always. 

The project provided a platform for the artist to communicate her art making process and culture on a commercial scale. It allows the audience to be a part of the journey and follow along.

The creation of the 8 metre long installation located in Charter Hall's Sydney workplace space is a collaborative design project with an aesthetic and educational value as Charter Hall takes meaningful and lasting steps towards reconciliation.

Natalie Devlin, Charter Hall's Chief Experience Officer describes how Tiarna, as a First Nations young emerging artist was a perfect match for this design facilitation project. Her approach is "organic, responsive and very practical which are hallmarks of Charter Hall's culture" says Natalie.

 

This project demonstrates Koskela’s experience working with First Nations artists, art centres and artist collectives, collaborating to create unique design products. This experience and the relationships we have built which span the Nation, coupled with our industrial design skills ensure we are uniquely placed to work with corporate and institutional clients to bring to life projects that can: serve to acknowledge the Country on which a building stands, provide a tangible representation of an organisation's Reconciliation 
Action Plan; and/or embody an organisation’s desire to further reconciliation. 

Each project is unique in scope and is tailored to a particular client’s
 needs and the features of the site. We act as the bridge between a client,
 architect or interior designer and artist and ensure that the process is one
 that clients and artists find rewarding and a real opportunity for connection and growth.

Do you have any questions? Get in touch today, and we will connect you with the right person in our team.

Koskela is proud to be the first furniture and homewares company in Australia to be a Certified B Corporation®.

Explore more of our modern furniture collection or Australian Artworks collection.