Showing up for First Nations art
Image credit: Matt Adnate
Welcome to NAIDOC Week 2022! We are honoured to be able to shine a light on the achievements of our First Nations people and support the work of bringing Indigenous culture to the forefront.
This year’s theme is Get up! Stand up! Show up! and we want to use this opportunity to #ShowUp for the First Nations people contributing to our local community.
Photo credit: Karalinar
The new mural as a work in progress.
Photo credit: Karalinar
Carolyn Briggs admiring the new mural.
The Marine Mammal Foundation research team regularly undertakes boat-based surveys of our resident population of Burrunan dolphin in Port Phillip Bay. To cover the vast area of the Bay the team launches the research vessel at various locations around the Bay. Mid-way through last year we were struck by the appearance of a spectacular mural displaying a Burrunan dolphin on the side of Karrum Karrum Bridge, at the entrance to Patterson River in Carrum. The team admire the mural every time they pass it, and we decided to get in touch with the artists responsible to learn a bit more about the artwork.
Meet the artists…
Commissioned by ADA Consulting, artist Matt Adnate, whose roots lie in street art, contacted First Nations artist and traditional owner of the area Karalinar to collaborate on the creation of the artwork, with assistance from artist Emily Gittins. Adnate initiated the connection with Karalinar so that the work would accurately and respectfully showcase and honor the Indigenous significance of the piece.
Karalinar included traditional patterns and elements of her culture throughout the piece and shared that the portrait in the mural is of her nephew Jack, a young Boonwurrung boy, captured by Adnate. Through Adnate’s Instagram she detailed that, “the pattern is influenced by Kulin visual language and design that is found on shields and possum skin cloaks” and that the Mana Gum leaves were included as they connect the land and the sea. These elements of the work were important to Karalinar as they create a connection to place and showcase the complexity and uniqueness of Indigenous culture.
The Burrunan dolphin
When we asked Karalinar why she chose to include the Burrunan dolphin in her work, she said the decision was important, “not only for [her] cultural and family connection to [the Burrunan] but also because they are an important part” of Port Phillip Bay. She shared that, Boonwurrung women have an especially strong connection with the dolphin as “young women would journey with their matriarchs to the special birthing places to learn motherhood, community and nurturing their children” in connection with the Burrunan.
In fact, it was Karalinar’s mother Carolyn Briggs that gave the Burrunan dolphin their name. When Dr Kate Robb made the discovery that the dolphins in Port Phillip Bay were a new species undescribed anywhere else in the world, she wanted the name of the dolphin to reflect the history and connection between first nations people and the dolphins. She was granted special permission to use the word “Burrunan” by the Boonwurrung elders as it is the word used in their oral history to describe the dolphins in the Bay.
Our community
Since the creation of the mural Karalinar says there has been a, “great response from the locals”. She hopes that, “people will continue to enjoy this work and maybe be inspired to research more into it’s meaning and learn more about the Burrunan dolphin”.
We would like to thank these artists for making this contribution to our community, and to Karalinar for educating our local community on her culture through captivating and engaging artwork.