On artist Megan Cope’s traditional Country, middens trace a cultural timeline extending back more than 20000 years and signify the vital relationship Quandamooka people maintain with the underwater and intertidal world.

Shell middens once had an even stronger presence across Moreton Bay. Cope’s people cultivated oyster reefs as a part of sophisticated aquaculture systems on sites including Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island). The shellfish both kept the waters healthy and fed families and larger community groups. Vast mounds of discarded shells built up; densely layered, these structures stood like monuments across islands, beaches and gathering sites inland. Colonisation disrupted these long patterns of sustenance, as middens around Australia were burnt to make the lime mortar used to cement growing cities such as Brisbane.

Cope reminds us of this history — as well as the continued presence and adaptability of her people — by reinventing dry-stone wall construction techniques to build a midden from cast-concrete oyster shells and black copper slag. This installation has been exhibited in different forms across Australia, each time referring to a different local midden. RE FORMATION 2016–19 references a key site for the lime-burning industry in this region, situated where the Brisbane River enters Moreton Bay.

Through her work, Cope focuses on restorative processes, hoping to see the regeneration of reef systems across Quandamooka country, creating food and clean water for generations to come.