The Platypus and the dragon

 

Scholarly Platypus

Macquarie University located in the suburb of Macquarie Park features a number of murals and sculptures.  The campus is on the traditional lands of the Wallumedigal, the Snapperfish people, a saltwater clan of the Darug who live around the northern waterways of the Parramatta River and Sydney harbour. The campus is rather large, almost it's own suburb, and features a range of cafes and eateries. I was on the hunt for a mural featuring a platypus and other Australian animals. Luckily after a short walk from the local shopping centre I located the mural in the central courtyard of the campus. The mural was created back in 2013 by artist Leanne Tobin and students. It still looks in great condition considering it's more than 10 years old. The artwork entitled freshwater/sea country (badu/gurrigarrang nora) shows the meeting of the freshwater and seawater along the Parramatta River. You can hear more about the artwork in a video interview from the artist here.

Some other art I spotted around the campus

Year of the dragon

Not far from Macquarie University is the shopping centre Macquarie centre. A beautiful mural of a wood dragon to celebrate the year of the dragon for the Lunar new year is on display. The mural was created by artist Christina Huynh it is called Magic Dragon and inspired by her Chinese-Vietnamese heritage and the statues found on top of Monkey Mountain in Da NangVietnam. Below is also another of Christine's Mural which collaborated with artist Sophi Odling I photographed at Burwood. 

Final Thoughts

It was a nice journey to explore Macquarie University campus to see the selection of murals they have. The Magic dragon mural was a highlight too and just like the dragon, the platypus was seen as a mystic mythological creature once too due to the fact that early naturalist's thought it was a hoax due to the unusual design of the animal. Read more about this here. You can also see more of footage I filmed of dragon themed things from the lunar new year in the video below. 

 

 Video Extras