The Rose Maze
14 Sep 2011
The Kodja Place Visitor Centre Kojonup, Western Australia Intended to be a ‘story about life’, the Rose Maze weaves together the stories of three women: Yoondi, the Noongar woman, Elizabeth, an Englishwoman, and the Italian woman Maria.
Through letters, a journal and personal dialogues these women impart a powerful personal message of the trials and hardships of rural life in the early 20th century, stories of hardship, loneliness and isolation. Their stories are expressed throughout the maze in plaques, and mosaics.
Abundant roses frame a maze of complex paths that lead us to striking pergolas ranging from old sheep yards to the mission brown 1970s pergola, the Woodhenge to the ‘deaths in custody’ pergola. The maze is linked to the building itself and the interpretive displays inside.
More than a hundred species of heat-loving roses bred for Australian conditions feature in the maze, many rare heritage species. The roses grow in hedges up to 2 metres high, and the colours have been chosen to sit naturally amongst the remnant native trees of the townscape.
Complex, multi-layered and entertaining, the Rose Maze provides a contemplative and illuminating diversion, accessible at a number of levels, by all ages and designed for people with a range of interests, from historians to gardeners.