The 2023 Victorian State Awards winners were recently announced by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) during a ceremony in Melbourne, with the Landscape Architecture Award for Community Contribution won by Yalinguth.
Yalinguth is an immersive audio app that shares recollections of Gertrude Street, Ngár-go/Fitzroy by 40 Elders whose lives have intersected with this unique urban landscape.
The app uses stories and sounds with specific locations to take listeners on a time-traveling journey with Elders who have passed on knowledge about specific areas.
From the likes of Uncle Archie Roach, Kutcha Edwards, Uncle Jack Charles, Aunty Beryl Booth, Aunty Rieo Ellis and many more, the listener has a vast amount of local knowledge to enjoy.
One can explore the sound-filled environment by following audio cues and using a basic map to locate stories, songs, and poems.
The initial Yalinguth location focuses on Gertrude Street in Ngár-go/Fitzroy, which holds great importance for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights movement.
The Yalinguth walk includes significant places in the area such as the Fig Tree in Exhibition Gardens, the Koori Club, the Builder's Arms, the meeting place in Atherton Gardens, Sir Pastor Doug Nicholl's Church, and stories about the many community-controlled organisations that were born and established in Ngár-go/Fitzroy.
A proud Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung man, Uncle Bobby Nicholls is one of the main Elders advising on the project.
Mr Nicholls said he is very pleased with the support behind the project and the award is the icing on top.
"To even be nominated is an honor," Uncle Bobby said.
"Even though we've captured Fitzroy, were now working with Wurindjeri, the AFL and Melbourne City Council to talk about our people that have excelled in sports.
"There's plenty of storylines like Michael Long's Long Walk."
Uncle Bobby envisions the app will provide a social commentary on racial prejudice in Australia, showing all sides of the coin in an effort to bring pride to Australia's Indigenous history.
Zoe Dawkins, a member of the working group on this project notes how Jillian Walliss and Janet McGaw of Melbourne University came on board the project early in it's development which led to them providing seed-funding for the project.
"They really have been great supporters of the project and provided a lot of advice and they applied for the Landscape Architecture Award," she said.
"We were quite surpised about the award, but it's about place-making and we're contributing to the story of that place - making them available.
"We really want to educate everyone baout this important history. That's also what a lot of the Elders who were interviewed say like Aunty Beryl said 'we need to go back before we can go forwards'."
The awards saw a total of 32 winners selected from an impressive 102 entries across 16 different categories.
According to the Jury Chair, Naomi Barun, the selected winners for this year demonstrate the significant influence of landscape architects in shaping both our man-made and natural surroundings.
Ms Barun says this year's winners highlight the impact of landscape architects on shaping our built and natural environments.
"The voice of the landscape architect was strong in so many projects this year," she said.
"In addition to a focus on deep listening to the land, communities, and Traditional Owners, landscape architects' design approach to place appears to have shifted.
"Not only are we planting with purpose, but this year's projects demonstrated less of a shaping of the land as an object' and more engagement and considered insertion into a restored or natural landscape.
"Projects in this year's program were applauded for their painterly approach in the use of plants in the balance of the beauty and the applied science of horticulture."
Yalinguth is available now for download on both iOS and Android.
