Coolamons
‘Water: Held’
Across Australia, water scarcity has shaped Indigenous culture, life, law and knowledge. While there were a range of water carriers, that which has most endured is the ‘coolamon’ — the word is specific to northern and western New South Wales, but has been adopted to describe wooden vessels across Australia. As well as carrying water, the shape of a coolamons reflects various adaptive uses. Flatter, shallower bowls were used like plates; slightly deeper dishes were used as food gathering containers, to grind pastes or for winnowing grains; and longer coolamons, with high sides or inward curving wings, were used as snug cradles for babies.
![Artists whose names are no longer known / Qld Australia / coolamons 20th century An installation view of two coolamons inside a glass case in a gallery space.](/index.php/system/files/styles/wide/private/2023-04/GOMA_Water_installationview_20191213_nharth_086.jpg?itok=6XuUZmHt)
Artists whose names are no longer known / Qld Australia / coolamons 20th century, installed for ‘Water’ at GOMA, December 2019 / Carved hardwood / Dimensions vary / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artists / Photograph: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA