Deep Weathering at the Rest Area (or, making jam in the “nation’s food bowl”)

Kaya Tatjana Barry

“Deep weathering” is a process that takes millions of years of seasonal wetting and drying of certain rocks to produce high levels of iron-oxide in organic material. The result may be a rich, red soil, which is perfect for certain crops like sugar cane and sweet potatoes. Evidence of deep weathering remains today in the fertile soils of the subtropical region of Bundaberg, on the east coast of Australia. Often referred to as the “nation’s food bowl”, Bundaberg produces a quarter of Australia’s fresh fruit and vegetables, attracting thousands of seasonal migrant workers. The region is intersected by a two-lane stretch of bitumen that makes up the national highway, a long-distance railway, and a small airport. The place is a hive of mobility, millennia in the making, that presents itself as a seemingly sleepy regional farming landscape.

During this live performance conversation, I will be making “deep weathered” jam at a

highway “rest area”, just outside of Bundaberg. Using a hiking stove and local materials, this is a process I have been documenting in time-lapse video, while I make jars of jam in-situ from produce sold on roadside stalls, locally produced sugar, and adding dirt, soil, dust, and other site-specific organic matter to the mix. The result is an engagement with rocks in all their multitude and millennia – the terrain, the seemingly ever-expanding farming monocultures, the edible produce, and the very dusty fruits of migrant labour. I’ll be discussing these connections while cooking in front of the camera.

This performance is part of an ongoing series of participatory activities with migrant farm workers to reflect on their connections to seasons, landscape, and regional livelihoods. These are site-specific and seasonal preserves, a kind of kitsch commentary on the traditional country market cuisine, while paying attention to specificity of landscape and terrain, alongside the mobility of migrant workers.