Belonging to the Barwon: Creating Art that Talks

About Belonging to the Barwon: Creating Art that Talks

Celebrating Wadawurrung language and land, this event unites children’s research with learning from a Traditional Owner, stencil art-making, and a community installation experience. In the interactive art-making workshop, participants learn about and connect with indigenous flora and fauna of the Barwon River, hearing from a Wadawurrung Traditional Owner as we overlook the Barwon from our venue. The all-ages workshop enables participants to select from a range of stencils of plants and animals, to then produce a stencilled image of a local indigenous plant or animal on timber tile, to display in their front garden. The artworks generated thus transition into a local installation in neighbourhood yards. Using digital technology, the stencil will invite passers-by to enter into a conversation with the Wadawurrung people and land, through information about the specimen, including an audio bite of its name in native language. As a conversation of belonging, the past, present and future generations connect through local flora and fauna, driven by a desire for shared knowledge of and appreciation for the local habitats to which we all belong. Additionally, there is a bringing together of families, neighbours and streets with the simple images providing opportunities for stopping and conversing.

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