Bern Emmerichs has spent a lot of time in Lalor this year.
The Collingwood-based artist was commissioned by Whittlesea council to chronicle Lalor’s history in a tiled, four-panel mural – from the Wurundjeri-willam clan through to the 21st century – and she has since absorbed the suburb’s particularities, met its biggest characters and watched its residents peacefully coexist, despite almost 65 per cent of them speaking a language other than English at home.
When Star Weekly visited her studio, Emmerichs was adding final touches to the fourth and final panel, depicting the period between the late 1940s – when a group of ex-servicemen established the Peter Lalor Building Co-operative to build low-cost housing for their families on previous farmland – and today.
The first panel focuses on the land’s traditional owners, the Wurundjeri-willam clan, and the white settlers.
The second tells the story of the Eureka Stockade and references the suburb’s namesake, Peter Lalor, who led the rebellion and was later a member of the Victorian parliament.
In the third panel, Lalor’s first European settlers, a clutch of German families and their beautiful farmhouses, Lutheran church and cemetery, are drawn alongside dry stone walls and 19th century farm equipment. Some of the most interesting characters include a dog with a pizza box in its mouth.
“I was told this dog gets sent down to the shops by its owner to pick up their takeaway pizza,” Emmerichs said.
Two of the panels have been installed and the final two should be up before year’s end.
Each panel represents about 250 hours’ painting on handmade tiles from Spain.
Emmerichs also created the huge tapestry hanging in the Northern Hospital’s atrium.
