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Hearth
Hearth was written in response to Leavy's engagement with the museum collection as part of her 2024 Queensland Museum First Nations Fellowship.
During her time exploring the collection, Leavy encountered the hearth nodules – individually labelled, sealed in protective wrapping and stored in archival boxes. Starting with her practice as a poet, Leavy sought to re-animate the hearth, returning them to their undisrupted state as a roaring campsite fire, surrounded by her Kooma people. Travelling to Country and the Kooma 'hometown' of Bollon, Leavy made and filmed a fire on the banks of the Wallam Creek, a Kooma campsite for time immemorial.
Combining the contemporary medium of film, traditional storytelling and poetry, Leavy repatriates fire to the hearth, raising questions about the intergenerational, cultural and emotional impacts of collection and repatriation.
Leavy was a recipient of the inaugural Queensland Museum First Nations Fellowship, generously supported by Queensland Museum Foundation.
Listen to Hearth, written and read by Cheryl Leavy
About the artist
Cheryl Leavy. Photograph: Hannah Izzard
Cheryl Leavy is a Kooma and Nguri writer, poet and cultural advocate from western and central Queensland whose work celebrates First Nations culture, history, language and Country.
An award-winning writer across poetry, creative non-fiction and children's literature, Leavy often writes in her traditional Kooma (Guwamu) language – officially designated as critically endangered. She is passionate about language revitalisation, with her work exploring storytelling, sovereignty, memory and connection to Country.
Alongside her literary practice, Leavy has held senior leadership roles across government and cultural organisations, championing First Nations rights, environmental justice and self-determination.
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Make a
Scene
Featuring extraordinary pieces from the museum’s textile and costume collections, Make a Scene will reveal untold stories of Queensland’s LGBTQIA+ communities.
Science
Night
Slip into SparkLab for an adults-only night of science.