In Safe Keeping, Breckon questions the unauthorised removal of Aboriginal stone tools and other culturally significant objects from Country. Across the Kimberley, exploration and colonisation have played a significant role in the disappearance/loss of significant historical items.

This printmaking series specifically documents the Worrora stone tools that were collected by the late Kimberley bushman Vic Cox. These stone tools now reside in the Mowanjum Collection at Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre in Derby, Western Australia, as per the wishes of Worrorra elder and artist Nyorna (Donny) Woolagoodja.

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
In 2015 Breckon moved onto a ten-acre bush block in the Kimberley. It was the deceased estate of Vic Cox, a well-known bushman and crocodile hunter. Vic was a bower bird whose property contained collections of found and traded objects from the Kimberley coast. Among them were buckets full of Indigenous stone tools.

Some of these tools were marked with locations and dates, linking them to the Worrorra language group of the West Kimberley coast. The collection includes a selection of unfinished pieces, cores for creating smaller flakes, and handmade tools (including rough-edged axes) designed for living off the land.

Breckon invited Worrora elders and friends including Nyorna (Donny) Woolagoodja and Janet Oobagooma, as well as geologist Joh Bornman and anthropologist Kim Doohan, to come and see the collection. They established that the stones weren’t mamaa (sacred), but were domestic tools used for hunting, harvesting and food preparation. Many had been discarded by the makers and left unfinished.

Through further conversations with Worrorra cultural advisors, geologists, anthropologists, artists, and remote community archivists across Australia’s top end, Breckon became aware of the concerns around displacing significant objects from custodial lands. Their undocumented removal is a form of erasure. This clearing removes evidence of human interaction with tribal lands – making it harder to protect a site from industrial development and threatening Traditional Owner’s continued connection and access to Country and culture.

As tourism and mining industries increasingly access Australia's most remote and significant sites, how can custodians protect their cultural heritage?

Vic Cox loved the Kimberley coast, respected Worrorra Country, and maintained friendships with Worrorra people. Vic's story is his own and these tools that came to live on his bush block – whether found, traded or gifted – were ultimately discovered and returned to Worrorra ownership.

Under Aboriginal cultural traditional laws, access to sacred sites and objects can be restricted. This collection of tools was checked for cultural restrictions and deemed safe for display in the Safe Keeping exhibition in Fremantle, Western Australia in 2018 by Worrorra elders Nyorna (Donny) Woolagoodja and Janet Oobagooma; members of the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre; and Balladong, Whadjuk, Noongar elder Barry McGuire. A selection of the stone tools and community quotes that were gathered for this exhibition are now on permanent display at the Mowanjum Museum in Derby, Western Australia.

Imprint Magazine 2021 - click for publication.