Barraba Silo Art

Barraba Silo Art by Fintan Magee is part of a series of art works painted on silos located around Australia, and is located on the outskirts of the town of Barraba in New South Wales.

Barraba is located 99 kms north of Tamworth and is situated on the Manilla river in the heart of the Nandewar Rangers in New South Wales. The Barraba Silos are privately owned by Simon and Amanda Koopman and are located at the southern entrance to town on Manilla Road.

This mural depicts a local water diviner searching for groundwater, using a y-shaped twig or rod or two L-shaped ones. Diviners study the landscape of a farm and walk over areas where they suspect the water may be located. Ground minerals and magnetic forces force the sticks to cross or be pushed downwards when water is located. Despite many studies claiming the technique is pseudo-science, diviners continue to be used throughout Australia as a way of finding groundwater.

Fintan Magee is an internationally renowned artist known for his murals throughout the world. He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2009 in Brisbane and then moved to Sydney to further his career. 

Posted by Chris Tham

Chris Tham is a co-founder of Visual Voyager Pty Ltd, the Principal Voigtländer Ambassador for Mainline Photographics and a Workshop Instructor for Mainline Photo Academy. She brings over 35 years of experience as a photographer to her role, starting with a Yashica rangefinder belonging to her dad, joining the Photography Club in school, and developing her own photos. More recently, Chris has been taking photos during her travels, and as a result has experienced some of the most interesting places in the world. Chris focuses on nature, street, and urban architecture subjects in her photography.