How cow pat came to symbolise women's defiance and become part of Museums Victoria collection
Updated
At the annual Women on Farms Gathering in Numurkah 25 years ago, the then-minister of agriculture was presented with a shovel loaded with a cow pat in response to his speech.
When Ian Baker addressed the crowd of about 250 women in 1992 in the north-eastern Victorian town, he said they had to decide whether they were going to be farmers or feminists — they could not be both.
"We took great exception to that and that was how the cow pat emerged," Women on Farms Gathering committee member Rhonda Diffey said.
"It became a bit of a metaphor for what we believed that he had spoken about."
The annual Women on Farms Gathering honours and celebrates the important role women play in agriculture in rural communities and this year, it is being held in Harrow, in western Victoria.
Along with the issues and stories exchanged, there is a formal 'baton changing' ritual, where a symbolic 'icon' is handed over from one organising committee to the next at the end of the event.
Senior curator at Museums Victoria Liza Dale-Hallett, who is documenting these icons, said the items all represented key issues and themes that were impacting rural communities at the time.
"That can drill down into the meaning and some of those really deep issues that often are really hard to capture in material way," she said.
Responding to minister with humour
Over the years the icons have included many quirky items including a work boot and a two-dollar magic wand complete with glitter.
"That is about giving women the right to speak [and] more importantly, the opportunity to be heard," Ms Dale-Hallett said.
She said at Numurkah, the women used their sense of humour to include the cow pat as a symbol in response to the minister's speech.
The official icon was the irrigation shovel, symbolising the importance of water and the dairy industry in the region.
The cow pat was the 'accidental' item presented along with the shovel.
"What's important about the cow pat is [that] it's like all of these icons on the surface — they are surprising and ordinary, but underneath they've got that depth of story," Ms Dale-Hallett said.
"There's a lot of humour there but also, some fairly heartfelt issues that are important for those women.
"All strength to them for coming up with such a creative response to that situation."
How cow pat became part of museum collection
That cow pat, along with other items from the Gatherings, forms part of the Victorian Women on Farms Gathering Collection at Museums Victoria, currently on display at this year's event in Harrow.
The idea for the collection came about after the 10th annual meeting in Beechworth in 2001, which displayed all the items from previous Gatherings and eventually became part of the Museum's collection in 2003.
"These women stood up, daring to call themselves 'farmers' and demanding the state museum document their story, which is important," Ms Dale-Hallett said.
Ms Diffey said the items were important for future generations.
"They continue to be a reference for the different farming women of all of those communities," she said.
"As well, for people from Melbourne or other areas who may to learn about some of the aspects of our reality."
'Only one of its kind in any museum anywhere'
However, because museum items often have to travel for exhibitions — as in the case of the collection of Gathering 'icons', a replica cow pat has been made.
"The original cow pat is very fragile and every time it moves more bits flake off," Ms Dale-Hallett said.
"There was quite an exercise in getting together some original and properly provenanced [sic] cow poo from the Numurkah area."
She said a person would not be able to tell the difference between the two if placed next to each other.
Of the 18 million items in the museum's collection, Ms Dale-Hallett said the cow pat on its shovel was one of the most unusual.
"It has to be probably the only one of its kind in any museum anywhere," she said.
"It's because of the nature of the story it holds that makes it really particularly interesting and provocative."
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