Gifts Fountain

Gifts statue, Brisbane, Australia

Public Art : Gifts Fountain

Sculptor : © Rhyl Hinwood

Date : 1998

Description : The Gifts fountain was originally commissioned as a fountain, but due to increased water restrictions in Queensland, the fountain base has now been filled in with plants. The bronze life-size sculpture depicts a young aboriginal boy frolicking in his world of nature. A bird lies at his feet and another flies above his head.

Location : 515 Queen Street, outside the Marriott Hotel, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Inscription :

Gifts
'I will bring you love', said the young lover.
'A glad light to dance in your dark eye
penants I will bring of the white bone,
And gay parrot feathers to deck your hair.'

But she only shook her head.

' I will put a child in your arms' he said,
will be a great headman, great rain-maker,
I will make remembered songs about you
That all the tribes in all the wandering camps will sing forever.'

But she was not impressed.

' I will bring you still moonlight on the lagoon,
And steal for you the singing of all the birds,
I will bring down the stars of heaven for you,
And put the bright rainbow in your hand'.

'No", she said, 'Bring me tree grubs'.

Oodgeroo of the tribe Noonuccal

Sculptor Rhyl Hinwood

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