Location:
Defence Site Maribyrnong
This walk is designed to be experienced in three separate sections:
Walk 1: Begins in park at corner of Riverfront Way and Park Drive, and ends at north-west corner of park, facing the river.
Walk 2: Begins on Maribyrnong River Trail at Prospect Street Reserve, and ends at the blue stone wall after Lily Street.
Walk 3: Begins at Maribyrnong River Trail at the bottom of Canning Reserve, and ends at Tea Gardens Reserve.
Access all starting and end point locations on Google Maps here »
Distance:
Walk 1: 800m, one way, approx. 10-15 mins walk.
Walk 2: 1km, one way, approx. 10-15 mins walk.
Walk 3: 1km, one way, approx. 10-15 mins walk.
Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
Hidden between parkland and suburbia along the Maribyrnong River, a 128-hectare site formerly occupied by the Australian Defence Force lies vacant as government planners and private developers speculate its future use. Timmah Ball takes us on a walk around the periphery – considering the colonial history of the site, its use by the military in producing explosives and ammunition, its eery abandonment in the present-day, and predicted future gentrification. Considering the resonance between the military history of the site and the unprecedented limitations imposed upon Melbourne during COVID-related lockdowns, Timmah asks, as the city begins to open again, what futures can we imagine as we walk past the site’s forbidding walls?
Timmah Ball is a nonfiction writer, researcher and creative practitioner of Ballardong Noongar heritage. In 2018 she co-created Wild Tongue Zine for Next Wave Festival, with Azja Kulpinska, which interrogated labour inequality across the arts industry. In her various projects Timmah has continued to investigate the links between gentrification, racial inequality and housing affordability. In 2016 she won the Westerly magazine Patricia Hackett Prize, and her writing has appeared in a range of anthologies and literary journals.
Curator: Annika Kristensen
Audio technician: Simon Cotter
Access:
This walk is accessible via even paved surfaces. There are sections with slight inclines in both walks 2 and 3. Each location has public seating should people prefer to listen while seated. Guide dogs and assistance animals are welcome across all areas this walk.
Six Walks has been conceived to be ideally listened to in situ, with headphones on a personal mobile device. Maps, directions and access notes are included with each walk to assist with orientation. ACCA reminds participants to be aware of their surroundings and to adhere to road safety guidelines at all times. Please note that when undertaking a walk, participants must assume personal responsibility for any liability, injury, loss, or damage in any way connected with their experience of Six Walks.
Recorded in a podcast format, Six Walks can also be listened to from anywhere and at any time.
