Musa

Musa is vibrant, digital artwork which combines historic information about the Brisbane Botanical Gardens with new approaches to screen-based installation. Visitors to the gardens will encounter a large Victorian cabinet inside of which a plant will appear, luminous and transparent a ghostly interpretation of once prevalent indigenous Queensland flora.

The installations name comes from the ‘Musa’ genus of wild banana which once flourished on the site now occupied by the botanical gardens. James Voller and Joel Zika have recreated a hybrid playful version of the different species that would have grown in the local environment.

Nowadays the banana is a symbol of Queensland life and agriculture, but native species of the wild banana are not as well known. The appearance of a museum cabinet in the installation engages questions on the nature and hierarchy of collections and the role that colonialism has had on interpretations of our natural environment.

The Musa Jackeyi and Musa Charliei are two key botanical specimens which have inspired this phase of the design process. We acknowledge that both plants are native to the area and have particular relevance to its traditional custodians, the Turrbal people. Should this project be selected for exhibition we will seek guidance on how best to attribute and acknowledge this history.