NIKERI - Grounded in Flux

GROUNDED IN FLUX

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands upon which the Deakin University campuses sit, we pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging.

GROUNDED IN FLUX

A Reflexive Exhibition of the NIKERI Institute in Collaboration with Deakin University Art Gallery

The National Indigenous Knowledges Education Research and Innovation (NIKERI) Institute provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians with access to flexible higher education programs. Our unique Community Based Delivery (CBD) model enables students to maintain their family, work and community commitments while studying. NIKERI Institute offers accessible and flexible courses to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, with an aim to increase the rate of university education for Indigenous Peoples. We offer undergraduate and postgraduate studies across the Arts, Education, Health, Land and Sea Country Management, Law and Indigenous Knowledges and Higher Degree by Research pathways.

Following the launch of the NIKERI Institute in 2020, and building upon a 35 – year legacy, we have developed a realisation theme for 2021 of ‘Grounded in Country’. We, as first Nations Peoples, are continuing to stay connected to our People, to our Country and to our Knowledges. We seek to educate those around us and, with collaboration with the Pro-Vice Chancellor’s Office of Indigenous Strategy and Innovation, continue to embed Indigenous Knowledges, perspectives and insight within the foundations of Deakin University.

This exciting exhibition is an opportunity to explore notions of grounding, and intimate responses to what it may mean to be Grounded in Flux. This exhibition articulates the perseverance and continued determination to stay grounded in a continually changing, and at times, highly dislocated and contested, political climate. It is the story of the challenge and innovation in staying connected and finding strength in community while maintaining pride and a sense of humour.

Grounded in Flux is a narrative of holding space. It is at once about reflexive motility in survival; and a celebration of our innovation in brilliantly traversing exponential shift whilst remaining anchored by our core values, diverse identities and complex responses drawn from the sophistication of our Knowledges. And in so doing, sharing our newly ancient modalities that can inform and inspire others.

Associate Professor Gabrielle Fletcher, Director, NIKERI, Deakin University.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that the following materials may contain images of deceased people and themes of Stolen Generation which some may find distressing.

Sovereign Threads by Professor Gary Foley and Rebecca Gerrett-Magee, supported by Erik Beyersdorf, Phil Burke and Lea Piskiewicz Connected to Country: A Discussion with Community by Kiri Wicks, Dr Jenny Murray-Jones Learning Together, Growing Together by Nathan Patterson

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Title

Sovereign Threads

Artist: Professor Gary Foley & Rebecca Gerrett-Magee Supported By: Erik Beyersdorf, Philip Burke & Lea Piskiewicz (Cloud 1st) Type: Installation, Two Archival Projections

‘Always Was, Always Will Be…,’ is something I have always known. I don’t remember the first time I heard it or where I heard it, but it is something that has been a part of me forever, a part of our community. I remember marching in the NAIDOC march year after year as young person and then as an adult with my own children chanting that saying over and over wondering if the bystanders standing on the side of the road staring at us even understood its meaning, quietly hoping that they did.

It would be an understatement for me to say that seeing mob and our allies wearing t-shirts with that very slogan on them some years later shocked, excited and intrigued me. I started to see more of these pieces of our history and identity pop up on t-shirts, earrings, tote bags and jackets, worn by mob and embraced by allies outside of our communities, there isn’t a community event nowadays that doesn’t have an array of these things on display.

I watch mob walking around proudly with their t-shirts or earrings displayed loud and proudly thinking how deadly they look but it is more than that. When mob puts these things on, they are saying this is who I am, they are asserting themselves as Sovereign people through the threads they choose for their bodies, and by doing so they are disrupting the colonial space that surrounds them.

This installation explores the idea of asserting Sovereignty through our threads by displaying the t-shirts worn by Professor Gary Foley throughout history. Professor Foley, a Gumbainggir man, is an activist, actor, historian and museum curator. Foley has been instrumental in the Black Power movement in Australia that saw the first Aboriginal legal and medical services set up in Redfern, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy set up in protest against the Billy McMahon governments anti-Land Rights stand and the organization of numerous protests including the anti-apartheid protest of the 1971 Springbok tour.

Foley is an icon within our community, many of us grew up watching him on television, seeing him in the newspapers proudly making a stand for us, never backing down and speaking the truth that we all held in our hearts. Foley would stand strong always donning a t-shirt with a statement on it, his t-shirts would sometimes say more than he would. His t-shirts would be blunt, political and highly amusing, not unlike the man himself. They would disrupt and fill the space around them, with one glance the reactions were clear, you could either identify or you could not, either way it was clear that Foley was here, he had something to say, and his Sovereignty was without question.

Written by Rebecca Gerrett-Magee, Lecturer, NIKERI, Deakin University.

Sovereign Threads by Professor Gary Foley and Rebecca Gerrett-Magee, supported by Erik Beyersdorf, Phil Burke and Lea Piskiewicz

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Top left: Sovereign Threads by Professor Gary Foley and Rebecca Gerrett-Magee, supported by Erik Beyersdorf, Phil Burke and Lea Piskiewicz Stolen by Jayne Acton Connected to Country: A Discussion with Community by Kiri Wicks, Dr Jenny Murray-Jones Sandtalk by Dr Tyson Yunkaport Above: Sovereign Threads by Professor Gary Foley and Rebecca Gerrett-Magee, supported by Erik Beyersdorf, Phil Burke and Lea Piskiewicz Right: Sovereign Threads by Professor Gary Foley and Rebecca Gerrett-Magee, supported by Erik Beyersdorf, Phil Burke and Lea Piskiewicz

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Above: Sovereign Threads by Professor Gary Foley and Rebecca Gerrett-Magee, supported by Erik Beyersdorf, Phil Burke and Lea Piskiewicz Left: Sovereign Threads by Professor Gary Foley and Rebecca Gerrett-Magee, supported by Erik Beyersdorf, Phil Burke and Lea Piskiewicz

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Sandtalk by Dr Tyson Yunkaporta

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Title

Sandtalk

Artist: Dr Tyson Yunkaporta and NIKERI Institute Type: Installation – Participatory

“We are accustomed to a certain way of thinking. We want the world to be simple, but we talk about it in complicated ways. Indigenous thinking is different. It knows the world is complex and finds deep ways to communicate this knowledge through pictures, carvings and stories. Tyson Yunkaporta uses sand talk, which honours the Aboriginal custom of drawing images on the ground, to bring clarity to complexity.” (Yunkaporta, 2019).

Visitors to the exhibition were invited to watch the nearby documentaries and communicate their own ideas and connections to the discussions through drawing simple pictures within the nearby sand installation and then sweeping them away when finished.

Source: Yunkaporta, T., 2019. Sand Talk. Text Publishing company.

Top right: Sandtalk by Dr Tyson Yunkaporta Right: Sandtalk by Dr Tyson Yunkaporta

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Above Connected to Country: A Discussion with Community

by Kiri Wicks, Dr Jenny Murray-Jones Learning Together, Growing Together

by Nathan Patterson Right: Connected to Country: A Discussion with Community by Kiri Wicks, Dr Jenny Murray-Jones which was reproduced as an external banner and placed on the outside wall of the gallery for the course of the exhibition.

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Title

Connected to Country.

A Discussion with Community.

Artist: Kiri Wicks, Dr Jenny Murray-Jones Type: Painting, Acrylic

Kiri Wicks is a proud Noongar and Tuwharetoa woman and Partnerships Coordinator at NIKERI Institute. Dr Jenny Murray-Jones is a proud Yorta Yorta/ Baraparapa woman and Visual Arts Coordinator at NIKERI Institute.

In July 2020, NIKERI Institute hosted a seven-hour live Zoom art session that resulted in a collaborative mural. Participants were able to drop in and out of the durational session, and share their own history, memories, and stories of country to be interpreted by Kiri Wicks and Dr Jenny Murray-Jones using paint.

The artwork represents Country, all the different countries that our community belong to.

But it represents much more than an abstract landscape. It is a visual representation of our connection to each other, drawing on each other’s strength during the struggle of both Covid-19 isolation and the racism at the onset of the Black Lives Matter movement.

We had viewers telling us their stories locally, Nationally, and even a viewer from overseas.

These stories of where they live, the colours, textures and movements were so different from each other. The stories were sometimes personal, sometimes funny and we even had a very academic conversation about how Country and Community can inform Indigenous Knowledge.

The artwork started with contour line segments representing the actual formation of land, mapping in an organic way and each story captured within.

This artwork has become the emblem for NIKERI Institute for 2021 and represents our theme for the year which is Grounded in Country.

Right: Connected to Country: A Discussion with Community

by Kiri Wicks, Dr Jenny Murray-Jones

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Learning Together, Growing Together

by Nathan Patterson

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Title

Learning Together, Growing Together

Artist: Nathan Patterson Type: Painting, Acrylic

The Office of Indigenous Strategy and Innovation was established in 2020 to support the work of Deakin’s inaugural Pro Vice-Chancellor of Indigenous Strategy and Innovation, Professor Mark Rose.

Working closely and collaboratively with Traditional Custodians, Elders, and the NIKERI Institute, the Office leads University-wide strategic approaches to creating the best student and staff experience possible for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including a major curriculum transformation project to embed Indigenous Knowledges and perspectives across all disciplines. ‘Learning Together, Growing Together’ was commissioned to represent this work and its importance to the fabric of Deakin University.

Nathan Patterson is a proud Wagiman man living on the south coast of Victoria. His mother’s people are from Pine Creek, near the Daly River Region in the Northern Territory, where the Wagiman clan are the traditional landowners. In the centre is a large meeting place representing Deakin, with students and teachers gathered together. The three circles symbolise past, present and future. The footprints symbolise walking together. The bottom corner represents family and community, with gum leaves representing connection to Country. The boomerangs symbolise students returning to their communities, with the coolamon symbolising the knowledge they have gathered on their journey with Deakin.

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Title

Untitled c. 1978

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Artist: Ronald E Bull Type: Watercolour on Paper Source: Deakin University Art Collection, Gift of former staff members of the Gordon Institute of Technology, 1985.

Elliot Ronald Bull was a Gunaikurnai man, the traditional owners of the land and waters of the Gippsland region of Victoria. He was born at the Lake Tyers mission camp in 1942 and was one of 21 children. Ronald was removed from his parents, Albert and Agnes Bull, as an infant and was placed in foster care. He was returned to his parents at Lake Tyers briefly to attend primary school, then at age 12, he was sent to the Tally Ho Boys home at East Burwood, which was run by the Methodist church. This was located just a five-minute drive heading east along the Burwood Highway from the Deakin campus. The boys home is now long gone and is currently the site of a business park, but the memories of Tally Ho remain, infamous ‘for its institutional abuse of young boys in its care’.

Ronald was introduced to art, drawing and painting at the boys home and would go into foster care again as a 15-year-old. Showing great promise as an artist, he pursued his artistic studies informally, training with painter Ernest Buckmaster as an assistant. Bull also wrote letters and frequently visited the studio of Hans Heysen, who he greatly admired. For a short time, he was enrolled at the prestigious National Gallery School under artist John Brack. In the 1960s, he was incarcerated in Pentridge prison a number of times for offences unknown. At Pentridge he painted a significant mural depicting a traditional tribal scene that is still able to be viewed today.

According to Mark Holsworth, Ronald Bull’s first exhibition was held in Morwell in 1965, and throughout the next decade, he exhibited regularly across Melbourne galleries with notable, non-Indigenous artists such as Ernest Vogel and Pro Hart. With regular appearances at the Herald Outdoor Melbourne Art Show and a number of television appearances, Bull was for a time quite a high profile artist and his works were highly sought after. It has been reported that one of his works had sold for as much as £1150.

By the 1980s, Indigenous painting had gone through a revolution with desert and dot style painting becoming internationally recognised and applauded. After his death, the work of Bull had become somewhat out of style and forgotten. As the rich history of Indigenous culture in Victoria is now becoming better understood, Bull’s exceptional contributions can be acknowledged. As Sylvia Kleinert explains in the Australian Dictionary of Biography: ‘he is now considered a significant figure in the regional history of Aboriginal Australia, a parallel in the south-east for Namatjira and a precursor to a later Koori art movement in Melbourne.’

Excerpt from article written by James Lynch, Curator – Art Collection and Galleries, first published in Deakin staff magazine, Network.

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Silent witness - A window to the past, 2005

by Uncle Jim Berg

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Title

Silent witness - A window to the past, 2005

Artist: Jim Berg Type: c-type photographs Source: Deakin University Art Collection, Gift of the artist, 2018.

Silent Witness, Statement provided to us by the artist, Jim Berg, when he generously donated this selection of works.

Artist Statement: This display of scarred Trees is dedicated to the Traditional Owners of Wotjobaluk Country and in particular, to the memory of Patrick Kennedy.

Rest in Peace Old Friend Come with me on a journey to Wotjobaluk Country. I would like to share with you some glimpses of the Trees of this Country. As far as I know, there is no other area in the whole of Australia that you would be able to find so many scarred trees so close together. You will hear the People of the Land speak through their Trees. They tell of what they had, seen through the eyes of the Trees.

Trees were the supermarkets of the Land. They provided food, shelter, transport, medicines, tools and weapons. These scarred Trees are a testimonial to the skills of the People, who harvested the canoes, coolamons and shields without taking the life of the Tree. The scarred Trees are a witness to a way of life, and freedom for the People to roam at will throughout their own Country.

I feel deeply emotionally stirred and saddened that what we can see of this way of life and identity, with the traditions of language, customs, beliefs and culture, were not able to be passed down through the generations. The Government policies and mission life all played a part and yet, some of the government policies and missions may have saved us from total extinction.

These scarred Trees are a reminder of the past, and they are linked to all Trees. Take the memory of these scarred Trees with you forever. Share their story with your Family.

Take too this gift Close your eyes and hug a Tree.

The heartbeats you hear is your heart beat and the heart beat of the Tree.

For a brief short moment, you and the Tree are One. In time, you, the Tree, and I will become as One, as we return to our Spiritual Mother, the Land.

Close your eyes and hug a Tree.

Jim Berg Gunditjmara man

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Stolen by Jayne Acton Sovereign Threads by Professor Gary Foley and Rebecca Gerrett-Magee, supported by Erik Beyersdorf, Phil Burke and Lea Piskiewicz Connected to Country: A Discussion with Community

by Kiri Wicks, Dr Jenny Murray-Jones Learning Together, Growing Together

by Nathan Patterson

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Title

Stolen, Part 1 and Part 2

Artist: Jayne Acton Type: Audio Poem, Written Poem

Stolen is not about any specific person. It solely reflects my own personal ideas and feelings of the stolen generation and assimilation. To write my poem Stolen, I drew on all the raw emotion I felt while undergoing IND101 and rolled it into the raw emotions of my personal family history.

My mother being part of the stolen generation, my maternal grandmother having eight children, raising only two, who went on to die young from heroin overdoses. While my mother and six of her siblings made it back to one another, one sibling – my aunt – is still missing from us to this day. My mother went on to have three children of her own, and we were all, once again, raised in separate homes. Knowing the extent of the direct traumas and intergenerational traumas my ancestors, my mother and even that I myself went through makes me wonder now if it doesn’t all play a part in the mental health issues that run through my family and trickle down to my own children.

Stolen

Sweep the yard, shut the gate, In sixty years, we might contemplate, A way to compensate, but not without debate.

First well try and breed you out, Deny you health care you cannot live without, Can’t understand our orders then we will shout, If you claim country, we will only kick you out, Ownership of land is what we care about.

You talk of the land, liken it to your mother’s hand, I do not understand, for dirt is dirt, sand only sand, It is money and power that truly make a man.

One day you’ll understand, This is our land.

Part One We raid your people in the night, To take all that is not white, What a site, what a plight, They way you’re living is not right, Try as you might, put up a fight, So many dead come day light.

Handcuff your Mumma while she screams and weeps, Your father watching with chains around his feet, Come along now child you are better off with me, We are going to teach you how to cook and clean.

Don’t you know, You would be nothing without me and so and so, We’re here to help you grow, So many things you would not know, Now WE reap what YOU sow, That’s just how it goes.

Your mother? She cannot help you now, We shot your father and he is buried in the ground, Your sister, being bred like a hound, Your brother drowned, Don’t make a sound.

Use these tools to cook and clean, see, (continued) Don’t shake your head at me, To your chains I hold the key, Appease and agree, What do you want to be? Free?

Freedom cannot be, not for thee, Why? Because you don’t look or sound like me, So, I don’t see the tragedy, Now you are working here for this white family.

It does not matter that you’re only eight, Get the dinner cooked and serve me on a plate, Do not be late,

Part Two My mob, we loved each other, We had it all, my brother, sister, father, mother, Grandfather, Grandmother, We lacked in gold but were rich in one another, Walking this earth, our mother, We cherished one another. (continued) Mother used to wash our hair, She did not care that our skin tones went from dark to fair, It did not matter if we went here or there or anywhere, Or what we chose to wear, What mattered was how we chose to show we care, Mumma loved to wash my hair, Down by the river there.

Arguments would sometimes begin, But in the end love would always win, Because kin mattered more than the colour of our skin, But to you skin tone could be a sin.

I slept, you crept into my home, Once part of a family now I’m standing here, surrounded - but all alone,

The place we called our own, Is now dirt, dust, and bone.

Because you could not see, Beyond our black skin was integrity, Loyalty, unity, family, And now I belong to thee.

You taught me how to cook and clean, Important I remain unseen, I dream of home and what could have been, I dream, I dream, I dream, Of my long-lost family.

I am dumbfounded, your claims unfounded, That this was terra nullius ground, 60,000 years of culture, but you’re the “founders” My Father shot, my brother drowned, Too many relatives to count are underground, My sister bred like one of your hounds, If I dare make a sound, I too, will taste the darkness of the ground.

If I dare to speak out, or shout, You will make me go without.

Trapped here beneath your stare, I beg for food, water, air, I beg, don’t touch me there, But you don’t care.

No! White man, don’t you understand?

I do not want to take your hand, This is not the life my mother planned, Far from country, kin, and clan, (continued) I dream of freedom from your hand, I dream my toes will touch the sand, Of my sacred tribal land, We will rise and take a stand, ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS WILL BE, ABORIGINAL LAND.

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Kinuw by Dr Tyson Yunkaporta

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Title

Kinuw

Artist: Dr Tyson Yunkaporta - a NIKERI Community Project Type: Carved Wood

The carving of this kinuw is a performance art/culture jam project that explores the dilemmas of living culture off country, in isolation from community, or outside of a distributed collective ethic of governance and economy. The making of a kinuw is mostly a northern Australian activity that is done with an entire family or clan involved. This kinuw is being made with the wrong wood, in the wrong country, and although it is done with permissions from Traditional Owners, there is so much wrong with this group cultural activity being carried out ineffectively by individuals. It provokes a thought experiment that challenges us to ask a very hard question - is it better to do culture the wrong way than not do it at all? How do people from diverse cultures all over Indigenous Australia come to a university and interact with an object like this when everyone has different protocols for that object? Is if better for us to navigate this together and incorporate all these diverse perspectives, or operate as individuals within our homeland frameworks of being? Is it possible to do both? In this way, the kinuw has become emblematic of NIKERI’s struggle to provide cultural safety and inclusion at the same time as insisting on cultural and intellectual rigor.

Top right: Kinuw by Dr Tyson Yunkaporta Right: Kinuw by Dr Tyson Yunkaporta

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IND101

Introduction to Aboriginal Studies

The following works are by students who have undertaken IND101 Introduction to Aboriginal Studies. As part of the unit, students are asked, for their final assessment task, to complete an individual reflective narrative using a choice of multimedia. Students will choose a contemporary cultural medium to reflect upon their own cultural locatedness in relation to their growth in cultural awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Students are encouraged to present their reflections in a form of their choice, be it video, audio, artworks, song or story, and draw upon the unit content, the class recordings and seminars to complete their piece.

The diversity and high quality of the student pieces received for this task is displayed here.

IND101 Introduction to Aboriginal Studies is part of a minor sequence in Indigenous Studies available to all Deakin students that is designed and taught by NIKERI lecturers. This minor sequence units will build understanding, recognition, and validity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ ways of Valuing, Being, Knowing and Doing. Units in the sequence include IND101 Introduction to Aboriginal Studies, IND102 Aboriginal Australian Stories and Songlines, IND203 Caring for Country and IND 302 Working Alongside Aboriginal Communities. Completing this sequence of study will facilitate a deeper understanding of Australia’s multiple histories to foster productive and meaningful relationships in culturally diverse communities, especially with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

If you, or someone you know is interested in studying one of more of the IND units please contact the IND Undergraduate Unit Coordinator, Rebecca Gerrett-Magee at rebecca.gerrettmagee@deakin.edu.au for further information.

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Title

Mad Max: Fury Road and the Australian Film

Artist: Matt Annett Type: Documentary Film

This short film cleverly demonstrates the imbalance in cultural representations that exist within the Australian film industry, highlighting how the lack of Indigenous representation in popular culture, together with systemic racism has led to persistent negative views of Indigenous peoples by the wider Australian community. The film argues that any Australian film must include accurate representations of Indigenous peoples as a way of ‘Closing the Gap.’

Follow the QR Code if you wish to view the video.

IND101 Student Work Installed in Deakin Library, Burwood.

Mad Max: Fury Road and the Australian Film

by Matt Annett Following Their Stories by Anonymous Family by Mollie Fairlie My Journey Through Indigenous Land

by Ruby Caswell Hurley

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IND101 Student Works Following Their Stories by Anonymous

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Title

Following their stories

Artist: Anonymous Type: Mixed Media Collage

My art piece, entitled Following Their Stories, was created to represent what I’ve learned throughout IND101 about the journey that generations of Aboriginal people continue to take as they fight to gain recognition of and respect for their culture and histories.

I chose to create an art piece depicting three Aboriginal men – one from pre-European settlement, one during European settlement, and one in today’s Australia – and the connection that the three different generations have to one another. The background is made up of the titles of government policies that have affected Aboriginal people – the space in front of the precolonisation man has been left empty to represent freedom from the laws of white man.

Though I’m clearly not an artist, this medium felt best to portray my perspective of what I’ve learned over the course of this unit. I didn’t use traditional Aboriginal methods to create my art piece as I feel I don’t know enough about them to use them in a way that wouldn’t seem like appropriation. I feel that what I’ve learned during IND101 has amplified the respect and admiration I feel for Aboriginal people as they steadfastly hold onto their histories and refuse to let their culture be taken from them.

The line ‘we walk behind our old people, following in their footsteps’ from the documentary Putuparri and the Rainmakers (2015) really spoke to me, and I incorporated that into Following Their Stories with literal footsteps connecting each generation. The footsteps represent not just physically returning to Country, but each generation’s reflection upon the histories of their ancestors.

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IND101 Student Work Family by Mollie Fairlie My Journey Through Indigenous Land

by Ruby Caswell Hurley

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Title

My Journey through Indigenous Land

Artist: Ruby Caswell Hurley Type: Acrylic Painting

This unit was set out beautifully as I got an insight into some of the best and worst parts of Indigenous culture. Some weeks I was incredibly proud and inspired by Indigenous philosophies and other weeks I was sad and furious about Indigenous people’s inhumane mistreatment on their land. That’s why I choose to reflect this unit through a painting. I find being creative is the best way to express my feelings, especially when this subject often left me lost for words, so I’m letting my painting speak for me.

The topics I have reflected throughout my painting are the ones that resonated with me the most throughout this trimester, including Indigenous people’s connection to land, the Indigenous belief system, Kinship and rituals. The first thing I learnt in this unit was how strong Indigenous people’s connection to the land is.

My painting is a landscape of Indigenous land, showing my journey through it during this trimester. In the centre of the painting is my thumbprint highlighting my identity. At the beginning of this Unit, I was standing in the middle of this unfamiliar land, surrounded by Indigenous culture, belief systems, kinships and rituals. I painted white tracks, showing the different directions and paths I took across Indigenous land where I discovered and explored new knowledge, concepts and appreciation for Indigenous people and their culture.

I have listened, I have learned, I have grown and I’m inspired to continue to expand my knowledge. I understand that it’s too late to go back and change the devastating past, but it’s never too late to be educated, learn and most importantly become an Ally and voice to support future change.

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IND101 Student Work Family by Mollie Fairlie

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Title

Family

Artist: Molly Fairlie Type: Wood and Wire Hanging Bird Feeders

These bird feeders were constructed with recycled materials, ethically sourced merbau decking off-cuts (not rainforest sourced), re-used electrical wiring clips, olive oil for staining and acid-free gloss on the painted underside, water-based paints and recycled wiring.

The core principles of kinship, the complex, interconnected system that influences how we each relate to one another and our ‘roles, responsibilities and obligations regarding one another, the environment and ceremony’ (Common ground, n.d.) and how humanity is an integral part of nature, had fascinated me since commencing IND101.

My creative piece, titled ‘Family’ was both inspired by our responsibilities regarding the environment and the overarching philosophy and relatedness of ‘oursness.’ My goal was to produce a creative work that has the potential of ‘giving back’ to the family that I am surrounded by, and aid in taking care of the land and the life it mothers.

Top right: IND101 Student Works Family by Molly Fairlie My Journey Through Indigenous Land

by Ruby Caswell Hurley Right: IND101 Student Work Family by Mollie Fairlie My Journey Through Indigenous Land

by Ruby Caswell Hurley

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Grounded in Flux Sources

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Sovereign Threads Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, 1972.

Source: Professor Gary Foley.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley 1971.

Source: SBS, www.sbs.com.au/nitv/ nitv-news/article/2018/04/12/long-shadowracism-australian-sporting-history, accessed March 12, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, 2018.

Source: Professor Gary Foley.

Photographer: Uknown.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, 1975.

Source: Professor Gary Foley.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, 1979.

Source: Professor Gary Foley.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley.

Source: Professor Gary Foley.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Aboriginal Legal Service, 1972.

Source: Professor Gary Foley.

Photographer: Uknown.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, 2018.

Source: Professor Gary Foley.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley 1971 Source: SBS, www.sbs.com.au/nitv/ nitv-news/article/2018/04/12/long-shadowracism-australian-sporting-history, accessed March 12, 2021.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, Dennis Walker, Billy Craigie, anonymous.

Source: Professor Gary Foley.

Photographer: B, Ward, Sunday Australian, 1971.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley 2021 Source: Lea Piskiewicz Photographer: Rebecca Gerrett-Magee Professor Gary Foley by Rebecca Gerrett-Magee and Lea Piskiewicz The image was reproduced on a large banner and installed on the exterior wall of the gallery.

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Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, Dr Roberta Sykes, 1972.

Source: Ningla A Na. (1972). [Film]. Smart Street Films, accessed March 12, 2021.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, the Clash 1982.

Source: Courtesy of Professor Gary Foley.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, Michael Anderson, Alana Doolan, Paul Coe, Cilla Pryor, 1972.

Source: Ningla A Na. (1972). [Film]. Smart Street Films, accessed March 12, 2021.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, 2013.

Source: University of Melbourne Alumni, https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/engage/alumniand-friends/notable-arts-alumni/professorgary-foley2, accessed April 12, 2021.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley 1972 Source: Ningla A Na. (1972). [Film]. Smart Street Films, accessed March 12, 2021.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, 2011.

Source: Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/ photos/srhall/6236973765/, accessed April 9, 2021.

Photographer: Steven Rhall.

Photo Loop

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, 2018.

Source: Blak Douglas, https://blakdouglas. com.au/portfolio/portraits/, accessed April 9, 2021.

Photographer: Blak Douglas.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, Richard Bell, Andrea Briggs, 2015.

Source: Green Left, https://www.nfsa.gov. au/latest/celebrating-culture-clancestry, accessed April 9, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, 2011.

Source: Getty Images, https://www. gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/ gumbainggir-man-activist-academic-writerand-actor-gary-news-photo/1298492113, accessed April 9, 2021.

Photographer: Darrian Traynor.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, 2018.

Source: Green Left, https://www.greenleft. org.au/content/gary-foley-history-blackpower-and-idealism, accessed April 9, 2021.

Photographer: Glen Lockitch.

Pictured: The Dreamers, 2014.

Source: Nungala Creative, http://www. nungalacreative.com/the-dreamers, accessed April 9, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, Dave & Elizabeth, 2011.

Source: Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/ photos/3rrr/6913384339/, viewed April 10, 2021.

Photographer: 3RRR.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, Natalie Thomas, 2015.

Source: Natty Solo, https://nattysolo.files. wordpress.com/2015/11/p1080885-copy. jpg, accessed April 9, 2021.

Photographer: Natalie Thomas.

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley, 2012.

Source: Green Left, https://www.greenleft. org.au/content/barbara-mcgrady-picturesworth-thousand-words, accessed April 9, 2021.

Photographer: Barbara McGrady.

Archive Reel

Pictured: Professor Gary Foley and Jacob Rumbiak, 2013.

Source: Wikimedia, https://commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eureka_Day_2013_-_ Gary_Foley_with_Jacob_Rumbiak_-_ IMG_6483_(11203202815).jpg, accessed April 9, 2021.

Photographer: John Engelhart.

32 GROUNDED IN FLUX

Foley, G. (n.d.). Persons Of Interest: Gary Foley - Ep 3 Of 4 (SBS ONE); Time: 20:30:00; Broadcast Date: 21 Jan 2014.

Grant, S., Anderson, M., Coe, P., Davis, M., & Dodson, M. (n.d.). Compass: Power to the People (2) (ABC); Time: 18:01:00; Broadcast Date: 16 Sep 2017.

Boylen, J., & Telfer, K. (n.d.) Ripples From Wave Hill (ABC); Time: 15:30:00; Broadcast Date: 05 Jul 2015.

Thornton, W., Perkins, H., Bell, R., Bishop, M., Gumana, G., McRae, T., Munduwalawala, G. R., Peters, R., Riley, M., & Yunupingu, G. (n.d.). Art + Soul: Bitter And Sweet - Series 1, Ep 3 Of 3 (ABC); Time: 20:30:00; Broadcast Date: 21 Oct 2010.

Stolen Source: Noyce, P, Gulpilil, D, Sampi, E, Branagh, K, Monaghan, L & Sansbury, T, 2019, Rabbit Proof Fence, Roadshow Films, accessed March 18, 2021.

Pictured: Brother Luis Arrufat and Unknown students, 1930.

Source: https://bth.humanrights.gov.au/ sites/default/files/report/2_ch3.jpg, accessed April 12, 2021.

Photographer: Unkown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Girls Source: https://home.dictionaryofsydney. org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SydneyMail-24-May-1922-p23.jpg, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Woman.

Source: Servant or Slave, 2017, accessed March 18, 2021, deakin.kanopy.com/video/ servant-or-slave, No Coincidence Media.

Photographer: Unknown.

Source: Noyce, P, Gulpilil, D, Sampi, E, Branagh, K, Monaghan, L & Sansbury, T, 2019, Rabbit Proof Fence, Roadshow Films, accessed March 18, 2021.

Source: Noyce, P, Gulpilil, D, Sampi, E, Branagh, K, Monaghan, L & Sansbury, T, 2019, Rabbit Proof Fence, Roadshow Films, accessed March 18, 2021.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children, 1934.

Source: Daily Mail, dailymail.co.uk/news/fb5948969/THE-STOLEN-GENERATIONS.html, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Source: Noyce, P, Gulpilil, D, Sampi, E, Branagh, K, Monaghan, L & Sansbury, T, 2019, Rabbit Proof Fence, Roadshow Films, accessed March 18, 2021.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Girl with Caucasian Child, 1890.

Source: Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, learning.qagoma.qld.gov.au/artworks/ mr-king-bundaberg/, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Paul Poulson.

Pictured: Governor & Lady Gairdner, Abbot Gomez and Unknown Aboriginal Children.

Source: Independent Australia, independentaustralia.net/Australia/ Australia-display/alan-jones-and-the-stolengeneration,8583, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children with Unknown Caucasian Teacher.

Source: Britannica Kids, kids. britannica.com/students/article/StolenGenerations/609943, accessed April 2, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Kinchela Boys Home Gate.

Source: nma.gov.au/explore/collection/ highlights/kinchela-boys-home-gate, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children and Unknown Caucasian Nun. Source: carolyngage.weebly.com/blog/ evea-knowsles-johnson-and-the-stolengenerations, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children with Sister Maria Caucasian Nu, 1954.

Source: humanrights.gov.au/sites.default. files/content/social_justic/bth_report/report/ images/11_ch11.JPG, accessed April 2, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children, 1900’s.

Source: Catalyst, catalyst.com/storiesnew/2020/7/8/the-continued-abuse-ofaustralia-stolen-generation, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Girls.

Source: abc.net.au/news/2020-0419/20091112-homeapology, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Girls.

Source: humanrights.gov.au/our-work/ bringing-them-home-chapeter-14, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Biddy, Aboriginal Nursemaid with John Gordon, 1887.

Source: humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/ files/content/social_justic/bth_report/report/ images, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children.

Source: Kinchela Boys Home, kinchelaboyshome.rog.au/kinchela-boyshome, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children.

Source: Flickr, flickr.com/photos/ statelibraryqueensland/47955184013, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children.

Source: SBS, sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/ article/2018/02/07/ten-years-rememberinglong-and-painful-journey-apology, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children with Unknown Caucasian Nurse.

Source: line.17qq.com/articles/ffdeppibz. html, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children.

Source: Pinterest, pinterest.com.au/ hollowaysarahholloway/broken-promises, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children.

Source: Toronto Star, thestar.com/opinion/ editorials/2015/06/02, accessed March 18, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children and Men, 1920’s.

Source: InDaily, indaily.com.au/ news/2014/12/23/tragic-christmas-taleooldea-1941, accessed April 2, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children with Unknown Caucasian Woman.

Source: news.sky.com/story.australia-fearsover-new-stolen-generation-10439625, sites. google.com/rightsandfreedoms10history/ module-3, accessed April 2, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children.

Source: The Carrolup Story, carrolup.info, accessed April 2, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children with Unknown Caucasian Nun. Source: 10 History Rights and Freedoms, sites.google.com/ rightsandfreedoms10history/module-3, accessed April 2, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

Pictured: Unknown Aboriginal Children.

Source: Kinchela Boys Home, kinchelaboyshome.org/kinchela-boys-home, accessed April 2, 2021.

Photographer: Unknown.

GROUNDED IN FLUX 33

34 GROUNDED IN FLUX

Grounded in Flux: A Reflexive Exhibition of the NIKERI Institute in Collaboration with Deakin University Art Gallery

14 April to 11 June 2021 © 2021 the artist, the authors and publisher.

Copyright to the works is retained by the artist and his/her descendants. No part of this publication may be copied, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher and the individual copyright holder(s).

The views expressed within are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views held by Deakin University.

Images courtesy the artist.

Photography Polo Jimenez ISBN 978-0-6486747-3-3 Deakin University Art Gallery Deakin University Melbourne Campus at Burwood 221 Burwood Highway Burwood 3125 T +61 3 9244 5344 E artgallery@deakin.edu.au www.deakin.edu.au/art-collection/ Deakin University CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B Cover image: Connected to Country: A Discussion with Community by Kiri Wicks, Dr Jenny Murray-Jones Catalogue design: Yakuwa Graphic Design Facebook.com/ArtDeakin Twitter.com/ArtDeakin Instagram.com/deakinartgallery izi.travelDeakin Art Collection and sculpture walk guides The Deakin University Art Gallery is proud to have worked with NIKERI on the development of this exhibition. The exhibition is a celebration of an important Deakin Institution and we thank NIKERI’s Kiri Wicks and Rebecca Gerrett-Magee, and Deakin University Art Gallery’s Leanne Willis for their curation of this exhibition.

The Deakin University Art Collection is represented in this exhibition by two bodies of work - one celebrating an early acquisition to the collection by Gunaikurnai man Ronald E Bull from 1978 and a recent donation from Gunditjmara man Jim Berg, both depicting scar trees.

GROUNDED IN FLUX 35