Project Background

Title: The Story Teller - Mary Durack
Location:  Burswood Park, Burswood WA
Client: Burswood Park  
Commission: September 1996
Project Materials: Bronze
Project size: over lifesize

The subject matter and inspiration for this work is Dame Mary Durack, renowed chronicler of Australian history, engaged in a dialogue with her "young self" as a child.

As the adult figure she takes the role of an ancestor passing on the family history.  The two `Marys`, child and adult, share a sense of purpose : their attention is riveted to each other and the volume they hold, ` The Swan River Saga`.

In this play and in her book `To Be Heirs Forever` Dame Mary captured the essence of life in Perth in colonial days

Dame Mary Durack grew up on the remote Argyle Downs and Ivanhoe cattle stations in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, she and her sister Elizabeth managed the Ivanhoe station, while their brother oversaw Argyle Downs. As pioneers in the European settlement of the area, the Durack family lived and worked closely with the local Indigenous people, learning skills ranging from cooking to cattle mustering. The history of her family is recounted in her book Kings in Grass Castles and its sequel, Sons in the Saddle.

In 1935, Dame Durack and her sister Elizabeth published their first collaborative work, All About: The Story of a Black Community on Argyle Station. They went on to produce a number of children's books, including Chunuma, Son of Djaro, Way of the Whirlwind, The Magic Trumpet, and To Ride a Fine Horse. One of Dame Durack's most notable works in children's literature is the story of the Nyungar man, Yagan, which was published as The Courteous Savage: Yagan of the Bibbulmun and Tjakamarra: Boy Between Two Worlds.

In 1938, Dame Mary Durack married Captain Horrie C. Miller OBE, a Western Australian aviator. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her contributions to literature in 1977 and became a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1989. Dame Mary Durack passed away in 1994 at the age of 81.