Whispers (Midden)

In Whispers (Midden) (2023), artist Megan Cope has constructed a midden from thousands of oyster shells. Middens are mounds of shellfish shells piled up over millennia to create an architectural form, indicating human inhabitation. They “are accumulations of our cultural feasting and our family gatherings,” says Cope. “Before colonisation these forms were enormous.”

On the island of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) in South East Queensland, only small remnants of the once towering structures created by the Quandamooka people remain. With the arrival of Europeans to Australia, middens almost disappeared after being burnt for lime mortar throughout the 19th century.

Here, Cope re-imagines what a young midden might look like, carrying the significance of shell mounds as a form of Aboriginal culture, architecture, and place-making into the present day. Oysters, which clean and filter marine water, “are a sign of health and hope” says Cope, while the midden is a form that carries memory of place, people, and practice within its many layers.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.

EXHIBITION HISTORY
- Yield, Caboolture Regional Gallery, Caboolture, 2025
- Sharjah Biennial 16: to carry, Sharjah, UAE, 2025
- Megan Cope: Whispers, Sydney Opera House, 2023