Mindeerup

Mindeerup is home to a selection of thought-provoking public art inspired by the area’s Indigenous heritage and historical links to Perth Zoo.

Works include large and small scale sculptures, sand sculptures, as well as an innovative audio-visual artwork which will share ancient stories of place, ensuring Noongar culture is at the heart of the area.

Karl Kep Ngoornd-iny (Fire and Water Dreaming) - sound and light show

A stunning sound and light show, Karl Kep Ngoornd-iny (meaning Fire and Water Dreaming) takes place at the piazza every evening. The show was designed by artist Yondee Shane Hansen with Art + (Art Coordination) as an innovative display that uses projection technologies to share ancient stories and represent the cycles and rhythms of country from an Aboriginal perspective.

This display takes place:

October - April

Monday - Thursday, 8pm and 9pm

Friday to Sunday, 8pm, 8.30pm and 9pm

May - September

Monday - Thursday, 7pm and 8pm

Friday to Sunday, 7pm, 7.30pm and 8pm

Karl Kep Ngoornd-iny, pronounced Garl Gepp Ng-orn-diny is based on two brothers dreaming – fire and water, and reflects the changing Noongar seasons:

• Birak the season of the young
• Bunuru the season of adolescence
• Djeran the season of adulthood
• Makuru the season of fertility
• Djilba the season of conception
• Kambarang the season of birth.

The story goes that once lightning strikes dry land, fire begins its journey of life across the country. Starting a cleansing process, the fire destroys old growth and opens new vegetation, like seeds, plants and grasses. The Aboriginal people would use the fire to hunt and collect small game. 

As the season changes, storm clouds roll in from afar. Heavy rains start the healing process by flooding the land. Billabongs, lakes and rivers are filled, bringing new grasses and plants back to the areas and attracting kangaroos, emus and other small game. The land has changed and is full of spirit, food and colour.  

The season and land slowly change once again. The animals and seeds disappear, the land dries out and the circle of the noongar seasons, and life is ready to start all over again.

Yedi Waangki-ny (Songlines)

Intricate ground-level sculptures by Noongar artist Yondee Shane Hansen with Art + (Art Coordination) link back to ground paintings and sand drawings learned from Yondee’s father and grandfather. The delicate patterns of Yedi Waangki-ny reference storm clouds, emu feathers, rock formations, waterholes and song lines.

Promenading Emus

Wandering straight off the Australian Coat of Arms, three Promenading Emus have claimed the area near the playground as home. Artist Russell Sheridan has used his unique style to bring the quirks and personality of these birds to life. 

Mends Street Mob

Mends Street Mob, a family of five meerkat sculptures in the piazza and two smaller mobs along Mends Street help guide visitors towards Perth Zoo where you can see these social animals in real life. Created by artist Mikaela Castledine, the meerkats use her signature crocheted polypropylene technique, giving them an intricate and unique finish.

Mends Street murals

Just a short walk from Mindeerup along Mends Street, two murals by artist Joanna Brown of Laeline Designs add a splash of colour to the area.

The larger of the two murals at 16-20 Mends Street features state and national floral emblems the kangaroo paw and wattle, and other local native plants, in a striking symmetrical design that represents a coat of arms.  

The smaller mural at the BP service station site across the road features native and exotic garden plants presented like two flower arrangements, referencing more intimate and domestic formal gardens as found around our City.

Mindeerup is a traditional Noongar name meaning ‘place of the shore’. The name acknowledges the significance of this area in Noongar culture and heritage. 

The journey from Mends Street to Perth Zoo

Imagine peering out the window while having your tea, or slowing your vehicle on Mends Street because an elephant was walking down the street!

This is precisely what happened in the early 1900s, when Perth Zoo used the journey to and from Mends Street Jetty to exercise its elephants and import new animals.

The zoo was largely responsible for the development of the Mends Street area, as the attraction drew more and more visitors.

From the beginning of European settlement, colonial authorities began experimenting with growing exotic plants and breeding animals. Native creatures were then traded internationally and once there was an extensive variety of species here, the site was turned into a zoo for commercial purposes. 

Ferries soon began traveling to and from Perth City on a regular basis and businesses like the Windsor Hotel and a number of tearooms opened on Mends Street.

New animals mostly arrived by steamer on the river – and sometimes they’d be seen on Mends Street after escaping from the zoo! 

Pedestrian and cycle paths along South Perth Foreshore make Mindeerup accessible by foot or bicycle.

Regular daily ferry services run between Elizabeth Quay in Perth and Mends Street Jetty in South Perth. 

Buses stop close to Mindeerup on Labouchere and Mill Point Rd in South Perth. 

For details and timetables visit the Transperth website.

Parking

First hour free parking is available in the undercover South Shore Shopping Centre paid car park off South Perth Esplanade and in the car park under the Mends Street Arcade off Harper Terrace.

Free parking (check signs) is available on Mends Street.

Paid parking (check signs) is available on South Perth Esplanade.

Please refer to the South Perth Parking map for more information.