About the Journey...

For one year I traveled across Australia by meeting and interacting with people who share my surname--Walker, to explore tolerance, hospitality and kinship among strangers. Using this conceptual strategy of repeating chance encounters, I met 70 Australian Walker families from Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney and many small towns along the way.   The work documented here is excerpted from an exhibition, which was shown at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne. Included are a collection of Walker hums, a series of Walker teachings, Walker wisdoms and other works that piece together a fictitious family portrait. Each Walker vignette is a glimpse into the negotiation performed by strangers whose defenses must dissolve in order to form an unlikely relationship.

This project was made possible through generous support from the Australian-American Fulbright Commission and the RMIT School of Art. Special thanks go to RMIT Head of School of Art, Professor Elizabeth Grierson, Associate Professor Lesley Duxbury, Senior Lecturer, Dominic Redfern, Gallery Director, Stephen Gallagher, Gallery Manager, Andrew Tetzlaff, Intern, Harry Metcalf, PhD candidate, Clyde McGill and of course all the kind, open-minded and generous Walkers who took a risk in participating in this project.

Download the exhibition catalogue by clicking the image to the right.