This publication records the history of Kingsford Smith Drive, Hamilton, Brisbane through exploring a public artwork that documents the stories of Brisbane's women and includes a history of this place, Indigenous and non-Indigenous. It is a rarely detailed exploration of the inspiration, history and motifs utilised in the public artwork titled bandarra-gan chidna: strong woman track / track of strong women (2019). Judy Watson (born 1959), one of Australia's most significant contemporary artists, developed artwork for this site which embraces and engages women from the broader Brisbane community. This interaction with women of the past and the present has underpinned and inspired her completion of this artwork journey. From pre-contact through to settlement times, Aboriginal people used this bank of the river to access water and food. It was used to travel from the area now known as Brisbane city and further afield to the west of Brisbane to gain access to the mouth of the river. Since contact and occupation, settlers continued using this bank of the river as a transport corridor, especially after convict women 'cut the road' to Hamilton in the early 1830s. bandarra-gan chidna was informed particularly by the rich and ancient Indigenous history of this place, and it celebrates the objects, plants and innovation with which Aboriginal people occupied this place. It remembers Brisbane's penal colony and early settlement (including the 'Female Factory' jail for convict women), and it also etches the journey of aviator Lores Bonney into the contemporary consciousness of this place. These histories have informed the ground plane artworks in key areas along the pedestrian walkway. These motifs, names and narratives reflect and reveal often untold stories of the women of this place, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. They are located primarily at Cameron Rocks Reserve and Bretts Wharf.
