Museums Victoria opened a new multi-disciplinary exhibition at the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre on Friday, ngiyama mirrim baany yulendj: reawakening deep water knowledge.
Through sound, film, visuals and artefacts, the exhibition explores how First Peoples' knowledge guides a more sustainable and culturally grounded approach to water in cities.
Baany (water) is a living presence; it carries memory, sustains life, and shapes the cultural and ecological relationships of Naarm (Port Phillip Bay). Visitors of this new exhibition are invited to walk with Country, to listen to its stories, and recognise the enduring baany systems flowing beneath the city.
Boonwurrung Country is the traditional lands of the Boonwurrung Peoples. It extends from the Werribee River down to Wilson's Promontory. Boonwurrung Country encompasses the sky above, the underground, and everything in between. The artworks and research within ngiyama mirrim baany yulendj focus on the waterways, wetlands, and coastal landscapes of the Cities of Port Phillip and Bayside within Boonwurrung Country.
This exhibition grows from the research project, Repairing Memory and Place: An Indigenous-Led Approach to Urban Water Design, which documented memory, revealing the ongoing agency of Country by rediscovering waterways, buried baanytaageek (wetlands), and cultural places.
ngiyama mirrim baany yulendj was developed by the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at Monash University and Museums Victoria. Additional support was provided by the Australian Research Council (ARC) through its Linkage Grant Scheme, the City of Melbourne through the Annual Aboriginal Arts Grant, and the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) through its Amplify Fund.
Curators include: N'arwee't Professor Carolyn Briggs AM (Boonwurrung, Wemba Wemba), Professor Brian Martin (Bundjalung, Kamilaroi, Muruwari), Dr Laura Harper, Dr Ana Cristina Lara Heyns, A/Professor Marilu Melo Zurita, A/Prof Catherine Murphy.
Museums Victoria Director of Exhibitions and Experiences, Tim Rolfe said Museums Victoria was proud to welcome ngiyama mirrim baany yulendj: reawakening deep water knowledge to Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre.
"Developed in collaboration with Monash University, this exhibition invites visitors to listen deeply to Country and to recognise the enduring baany, or water systems that continue to shape the lands and waters beneath our city," he said.
"Through the work of First Peoples knowledge holders, artists, researchers and curators, ngiyama mirrim baany yulendj reveals how living cultural knowledge can guide more sustainable and culturally grounded approaches to water in our cities. We are honoured to share this important exhibition at Melbourne Museum."
Professor Brian Martin, Director of the Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous Research Lab at Monash Art said: "ngiyama mirrim baany yulendj: reawakening deep water knowledge is an exhibition that is a culmination of collaborative research that articulates the importance of water."
"The relationship between memory, Country, and creative practice underpins a way of repairing water memory on and within Boonwurrung Country. The various material articulations and practices in this exhibition illuminate how water is interconnected with Country, cultural and creative practices," he said.
