Recently Naviar Records called for contributions to appear in an exhibition in Japan
Marco wrote that his inspiration came from the Ainu, Japan's indigenous people, in his email to the Naviar community:
I've been working on this installation for a week now, studying and collecting sounds from my local environment, learning and understanding more about where my culture comes from. To someone who's been in contact with indigenous cultures all their life, this might seem like a childish game; however, for me, it's been an enlightening experience.
It brought to mind a project that I started to write songs reflecting my own heritage, which began around the time of Anzac Day and was inspired by the idea of that event being Australia's version of an ancestor celebration.
My contribution is a draft of one of those songs, drawing on the history of the Wanderer butterfly in Australia.
The lyrics are:
From foreign skies it came,
A fire-bright drift in golden flame—
On cyclonic winds, torn and tossed,
Somehow carried life across,
After this flight over the seas.
A stranger turned sovereign by the breeze,
In the year 1871,
Met the blush of Antipodean sun.
On winds of fate, it crossed the sea,
A monarch's flight to lands so free.
From foreign shores to Sydney's light,
The Wanderer took its maiden flight.
Milkweed bloomed—a bitter crown,
Bred the brood in orange gown.
Wings like stained glass kissed by fire,
A tale of travel, cocooned desire.
Not born of bush or Dreamtime's lore,
Arrived at a eucalyptus shore.
An exile once, now a monarch of air,
This Wanderer dances on blooms with care.
The rationale for this symbol is:
In my backyard is a mint plant that I hoped might grow to replace my lawn. Many butterflies land on the flowers when it blooms.And the bio I've provided is something I'm going to add here (mostly for future reference, sorry for appearing kinda bigheaded but it's my blog hey!):
I started researching their varieties as I began photographing them and became interested in the Wanderer, which is the Australian version of the Monarch in the Americas. It has distinctive white spots on a black body and magnificent wings coloured like autumnal leaves.
This type of butterfly arrived in Australia around the time my father's great-grandparents migrated here. It is thought it may have been blown here by a cyclone, but found the imported milkweed plant that supports Monarch caterpillars and was able to survive.
My parents were both born in North America, so I've come to adopt the Wanderer as a symbol for my cultural identity.
I've performed the song using a ukulele, as it is an instrument from the Pacific – the ocean that unites Australia, Japan and the USA.
With a focus on the Riverina landscape, Jason’s interdisciplinary art spans text, digital media, and community-driven initiatives, including his work with Naviar Records' Crossing Streams exhibition and Red Earth Ecology. As a writer and musician under the pseudonym Bassling, he has contributed to online music magazine Cyclic Defrost, won the Murrumbidgee Short Story competition, and collaborated internationally on projects like the Shinobi Cuts Remix Chain.
And in Japanese:
ジェイソン・リチャードソン（オーストラリア）
ジェイソン・リチャードソンは、オーストラリア・リヴェライナ地方の風景を軸に、言葉とデジタル表現、そして地域コミュニティとともに行う創作活動を横断的に展開しているアーティストである。
Naviar Records の「Crossing Streams」展や Red Earth Ecology などのプロジェクトを通じて、自然と文化、個人と土地との関係を探求してきた。
ジェイソンの自宅の庭には、芝生の代わりにと植えたミントが茂り、その花に蝶が集まるようになった。
それらの蝶を撮影するうちに、特に「ワンダラー」と呼ばれる蝶に惹かれるようになる。これは、アメリカ大陸に生息する「モナーク（オオカバマダラ）」に類似した、オーストラリアの在来種である。黒い身体に白い斑点、そして秋の葉を思わせる色の翼を持つ。
この蝶がオーストラリアに渡来したのは、ジェイソンの曽祖父母がこの地に移住してきた時期と重なる。サイクロンに乗って漂着した可能性があり、北米から持ち込まれたトウワタ（milkweed）の存在によってオーストラリアの地に定着できたとされる。
北米にルーツを持つ両親のもとに生まれたジェイソンにとって、この蝶「ワンダラー」は、自身の文化的アイデンティティの象徴となった。
本作では、オーストラリア、日本、アメリカをつなぐ太平洋を意識し、その象徴的な楽器であるウクレレによる演奏を取り入れている。
