Twelve artists – both local and interstate, have been asked to respond to the theme of Djilba – First Spring – in our current exhibition at The Art Space Collective.

Growing up, I only learnt about the seasons of Europe, not the seasons relevant to our home.

I’m excited that kids are now learning so much about the culture of our landscape and the unique biodiverse flora and fauna that has flourished here for tens of thousands of years, including our six seasons.

Djilba is the season in the Nyoongar calendar when the yellow and cream acacia flowers start to bloom. It’s the start of the massive flowering explosion that happens in the South West. 

Traditionally, the main food sources included many of the land based grazing animals as in the season before. These included the Yongar (kangaroo), the Waitj (emu) and the Koomal (possum). 

As the days start to warm up, we start to see and hear the first of the new borns with their proud parent out and about providing them food, guiding them through foraging tasks and protecting their family units from much bigger animals, including people.

The woodland birds will still be nest bound, hence the swooping protective behavior of the Koolbardi (Magpie) starts to ramp up and if watched closely, so to do the Djidi Djidi (Willy Wag Tails) and the Chuck-a-luck (Wattle Birds) to name a couple of others.

As the season progresses and the temperatures continue to rise, we’ll start to see the flower stalks of the Balgas (Grass Trees) emerging in preparation for the coming Kambarang season.