Ellie Franks is a proud Gubbi Gubbi woman, living and working in Naarm. Her practice is print informed and utilises print techniques to talk to concepts of identity, belonging and connection. She focuses on the malleability of materials and leans into the fluid nature of various mediums, mistakes and chance. Ellie graduated from RMIT University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and is currently participating in the 2023 Koorie Heritage Trust Blak Design Program. Matrices and images made by the artist at Wunggurrwil Dhurrung Community Centre, and editions printed at Negative Press. Edition of 4 + A/P. Printed by Trent Walter at Negative Press. public art, australian first nations art, printmaking

This work was created during a program called Flipping the Script, funded via Wyndham City Council and Creative Victoria, August - September 2018. The project was aimed at young women from the African diaspora, to provide an opportunity to learn methods of digital and visual storytelling.african diaspora, portrait, photography, digital, australian first nations art, first nations photography

This work was created during a program called Flipping the Script, funded via Wyndham City Council and Creative Victoria, August - September 2018. The project was aimed at young women from the African diaspora, to provide an opportunity to learn methods of digital and visual storytelling.african diaspora, digital, portrait, photography, australian first nations art, first nations photography

This work was created during a program called Flipping the Script, funded via Wyndham City Council and Creative Victoria, August - September 2018. The project was aimed at young women from the African diaspora, to provide an opportunity to learn methods of digital and visual storytelling.african diaspora, digital, portrait, photography, australian first nations art, first nations photography

This work was created during a program called Flipping the Script, funded via Wyndham City Council and Creative Victoria, August - September 2018. The project was aimed at young women from the African diaspora, to provide an opportunity to learn methods of digital and visual storytelling.african diaspora, portrait, photography, digital, australian first nations art, first nations photography

This work was created during a program called Flipping the Script, funded via Wyndham City Council and Creative Victoria, August - September 2018. The project was aimed at young women from the African diaspora, to provide an opportunity to learn methods of digital and visual storytelling.african diaspora, portrait, photography, digital, australian first nations art, first nations photography

This work was created during a program called Flipping the Script, funded via Wyndham City Council and Creative Victoria, August - September 2018. The project was aimed at young women from the African diaspora, to provide an opportunity to learn methods of digital and visual storytelling.african diaspora, portrait, photography, digital, australian first nations art, first nations photography

This work was created during a program called Flipping the Script, funded via Wyndham City Council and Creative Victoria, August - September 2018. The project was aimed at young women from the African diaspora, to provide an opportunity to learn methods of digital and visual storytelling.african diaspora, photography, digital, portrait, australian first nations art, first nations photography

This work was created during a program called Flipping the Script, funded via Wyndham City Council and Creative Victoria, August - September 2018. The project was aimed at young women from the African diaspora, to provide an opportunity to learn methods of digital and visual storytelling.african diaspora, portrait, digital, photography, australian first nations art, first nations photography

This work was created during a program called Flipping the Script, funded via Wyndham City Council and Creative Victoria, August - September 2018. The project was aimed at young women from the African diaspora, to provide an opportunity to learn methods of digital and visual storytelling. african diaspora, portrait, photography, digital, australian first nations art, first nations photography

The Creation Serpent is the central image moving through the land. As well as being the creator of the land, it's whole image, coloured blocks and individual dots represent the Gunditjmara Nation, tribal groups and individual clans respectively. The four hands in the corners mark all peoples who at present form our community. They show the people that live on the land in the north, south, east and west of the Shire. The two shaded hands in the background represent the spirit of the old people living within the land. They not only point to the law which governs the country but also remind us of the spirits of those elders whose lives were lost both in battle and in life itself.This artwork was the cover art chosen for the Memorandum of Understanding between the Glenelg Shire Council and Indigenous Communities of 2005. Danny Lovett is a Gunditjmara artist.An image of a serpent in the centre of the work. The serpent is depicted in white dots. Its body has sections of yellow and blue. It's head is burgundy. Surrounding the serpent in each corner there are four handprints. The background of the work is painted blue, red and yellow areas which look sponged. Surrounding the artwork is a border of black and white also with a sponged effect. It is framed in dark brown plain wood.first nations, aboriginal art, serpent

Since our early ancestors first glimpsed their reflection in water the mirror has served as our most immediate means of personal identification. While our sene of self is intricately linked to our physical image, the discovery of DNA and subsequent mapping of the human genome has introduced a new mode of observation and level ofperception, on the one hand acutely defining out personal differences, while at the same time extending our awareness beyond the bounds of individualism and enabling us to witness our undeniable bonds with the rest of the natural world. This work has multiple levels of meaning, drawing on DNA sequencing patterns as living code, while high lighting the very fluidity created between extremes of biological distinction and our shifting states of identity and perception. public art, australian first nations art

Ngaya is a cut and paste, collage, punked-up look at my Country. It’s a country with conflicting narratives which the film explores through found footage and animation. It looks at Country from an insider-outsider perspective, someone who at once belongs to the Country but who has never lived on Country for any extended time, and has viewed it from Naarm for the past twenty years. I want people to think about the snow country away from being a holiday destination to be exploited, to think about the first people of the snow and fragility of Country. australian first nations art, video, ngarigo, animation, identity, country

Tony Albert’s 2022 solo exhibition at Sullivan+Strumpf, Remark, continues the artist’s investigation into the imagery and identification of appropriated Indigenous Australian iconography in domestic decoration and design. Incorporating fabric from his extensive collection of ‘Aboriginalia’, Remark sees Albert expand on his acclaimed Conversations with Margaret Preston series dimensionality, critically engaging with the fabric in his own right. Like the fabric of Australian society, the appropriated Indigenous imagery printed on souvenir tea towels intertwines in a complicated web of national identity. These are not images by Aboriginal people and our voices and autonomy continued to be silenced through the object’s inauthenticity. As a country we must reconcile with these objects’ very existence. They are painful reiterations of a violent and oppressive history, but we also cannot hide or destroy them because they are an important societal record that should not be forgotten. As an artist this juxtaposition and tension fascinates me. Tony Albert’s multidisciplinary practice investigates contemporary legacies of colonialism, prompting audiences to contemplate the human condition. Drawing on both personal and collective histories, Albert explores the ways in which optimism can be utilised to overcome adversity. His work poses important questions such as how do we remember, give justice to, and rewrite complex and traumatic histories. Albert’s technique and imagery are distinctly contemporary, displacing traditional Australian Aboriginal aesthetics with an urban conceptuality. Appropriating textual references from sources as diverse as popular music, film, fiction, and art history, Albert plays with the tension arising from the visibility, and in-turn, the invisibility of Aboriginal People across the news media, literature, and the visual world. australian first nations art, colonialisation

Tony Albert’s 2022 solo exhibition at Sullivan+Strumpf, Remark, continues the artist’s investigation into the imagery and identification of appropriated Indigenous Australian iconography in domestic decoration and design. Incorporating fabric from his extensive collection of ‘Aboriginalia’, Remark sees Albert expand on his acclaimed Conversations with Margaret Preston series dimensionality, critically engaging with the fabric in his own right. Like the fabric of Australian society, the appropriated Indigenous imagery printed on souvenir tea towels intertwines in a complicated web of national identity. These are not images by Aboriginal people and our voices and autonomy continued to be silenced through the object’s inauthenticity. As a country we must reconcile with these objects’ very existence. They are painful reiterations of a violent and oppressive history, but we also cannot hide or destroy them because they are an important societal record that should not be forgotten. As an artist this juxtaposition and tension fascinates me. Tony Albert’s multidisciplinary practice investigates contemporary legacies of colonialism, prompting audiences to contemplate the human condition. Drawing on both personal and collective histories, Albert explores the ways in which optimism can be utilised to overcome adversity. His work poses important questions such as how do we remember, give justice to, and rewrite complex and traumatic histories. Albert’s technique and imagery are distinctly contemporary, displacing traditional Australian Aboriginal aesthetics with an urban conceptuality. Appropriating textual references from sources as diverse as popular music, film, fiction, and art history, Albert plays with the tension arising from the visibility, and in-turn, the invisibility of Aboriginal People across the news media, literature, and the visual world. australian first nations art, colonialisation

Tony Albert’s 2022 solo exhibition at Sullivan+Strumpf, Remark, continues the artist’s investigation into the imagery and identification of appropriated Indigenous Australian iconography in domestic decoration and design. Incorporating fabric from his extensive collection of ‘Aboriginalia’, Remark sees Albert expand on his acclaimed Conversations with Margaret Preston series dimensionality, critically engaging with the fabric in his own right. Like the fabric of Australian society, the appropriated Indigenous imagery printed on souvenir tea towels intertwines in a complicated web of national identity. These are not images by Aboriginal people and our voices and autonomy continued to be silenced through the object’s inauthenticity. As a country we must reconcile with these objects’ very existence. They are painful reiterations of a violent and oppressive history, but we also cannot hide or destroy them because they are an important societal record that should not be forgotten. As an artist this juxtaposition and tension fascinates me. Tony Albert’s multidisciplinary practice investigates contemporary legacies of colonialism, prompting audiences to contemplate the human condition. Drawing on both personal and collective histories, Albert explores the ways in which optimism can be utilised to overcome adversity. His work poses important questions such as how do we remember, give justice to, and rewrite complex and traumatic histories. Albert’s technique and imagery are distinctly contemporary, displacing traditional Australian Aboriginal aesthetics with an urban conceptuality. Appropriating textual references from sources as diverse as popular music, film, fiction, and art history, Albert plays with the tension arising from the visibility, and in-turn, the invisibility of Aboriginal People across the news media, literature, and the visual world. australian first nations art, colonialisation

Waa Waa – Crow Feathers is a painting from Aunty Marlene Gilson’s 2022 exhibition ‘Bunjil Wour Kun Ya – Spirit of My Ancestors’. This work tells the story of Waa-Waa, the first Wadawurrung to see a white man, Matthew Flinders and his crew surveying the southern Australian coastline near the You Yangs on 1 May 1802. Speaking to Wyndham Art Gallery’s curatorial framework themes of Foregrounding, Habitat and Localism, the work portrays in Wadawurrung lore the first sighting of a European and acknowledges Australian First Nations peoples original and ongoing connections with land, history, politics and knowledges of place. The scene is overlooking the You Yangs which is deeply connected with the local place and habitat of the Werribee Plain. Aunty Marlene Gilson is a Wathaurung (Wadawarrung) Elder living on country in Gordon, near Ballarat. Marlene Gilson’s multi-figure paintings work to overturn the colonial grasp on the past by reclaiming and re-contextualising the representation of historical events. Learning her Wathaurung history from her grandmother, Gilson began painting while recovering from an illness. The artist’s meticulously rendered works display a narrative richness and theatrical quality akin to the traditional genre of history painting. Gilson, however, privileges those stories relating to her ancestral land, which covers Ballarat, Werribee, Geelong, Skipton and the Otway Ranges in Victoria. Often including her two totems, Bunjil the Eagle and Waa the Crow, Gilson’s paintings not only reconfigure historical narratives, but display her spiritual connection to Country. australian first nations art, cultural story, australian painting, wathaurung, female artist

Karen Casey (1956 – 2021) Palawaaustralian first nations art, female artist, projection, video art

From the tranquil Lake Condah on Gunditjmara land, my artistic journey began on my Grandmothers country (Gunditjmara). Over six fruitful years, I've honed my craft as a professional artist, specialising in acrylics on canvas, captivating murals of varying scales, and digital innovation. A modern storyteller, my creations intricately weave tales of place, country, identity, and connection—a tribute to the past, a celebration of the present, and a gaze into the future. My palette, a symphony of colours, harmonises with each location's spirit and the rhythm of changing seasons. Having collaborated with Government, Private, and Corporate sectors, my work has adorned diverse spaces with its charm. A pivotal chapter saw me join forces with the esteemed artist Adnate, together crafting five murals that transcend reality, delve into cultural depths, and explore spirituality. As I stand today, my art echoes untold stories, honouring heritage, and uniting human experiences across time's canvas.Muralpublic art, mural, australian first nations art, cultural story

This artwork is a story of life over coming darkness. Rebirth and renewal. As a Bunurong person this story means a lot to my people, this represents community past, present and future and the struggles we have had to overcome to become the people we are today in the world we are today. Kobi Summers is a young emerging Aboriginal Artist, who is a Proud Bunurong Man living in Melbourne. He specialises in Digital Art, Contemporary aboriginal Canvas Art, Mural Art and Clothing Art.australian first nations art, bunurong, cultural story

A central tableau is beautifully lit to expose choreographed arrangements of plants, animals, objects and food. Grounded in a photographic aesthetic that echoes Dutch Old Master paintings, they examine the industry and practices that have so effectively brought damage to traditional Aboriginal culture, the natural environment of the Australian continent – and the globe. Each image explores an aspect of the devastating impact of colonisation on Australia’s First Nations peoples, and the global repercussions of environmental degradation. The translation of the French in the title of this series, “Natures mortes” is dead nature. Yet in the simmering emotional register of each image lies an inherent belief in the individual over environment, and the redemptive nature of culture. australian first nations art, photography, colonialisation, environment

Invasion places an imaginative eye in Australian colonial history and turns around the dominant view, taking alien creatures into iconic London-based cityscapes, with white urban residents their victims. Cook's images express the shock that enveloped the Australian continent when European people appeared on Aboriginal shores. Aboriginals as aliens, sci-fi scaled animals - featherless birds, super sized grubs, giant lizards, possums on ufo's, laser shooting fembots, and clouds of rainbow lorikeets - arrive into urban London, the 'mother' country, and wreak havoc. Within the broad narrative are mini narratives that speak to the past, historical references that tease out and reverse the racist practices imposed on Aboriginals. The drama of such an event heightened with the use of vintage-inspired B-grade horror movie aesthetic - an ironic 'spoofy' edge.australian first nations art, photography, colonialisation, sci-fi

Invasion places an imaginative eye in Australian colonial history and turns around the dominant view, taking alien creatures into iconic London-based cityscapes, with white urban residents their victims. Cook's images express the shock that enveloped the Australian continent when European people appeared on Aboriginal shores. Aboriginals as aliens, sci-fi scaled animals - featherless birds, super sized grubs, giant lizards, possums on ufo's, laser shooting fembots, and clouds of rainbow lorikeets - arrive into urban London, the 'mother' country, and wreak havoc. Within the broad narrative are mini narratives that speak to the past, historical references that tease out and reverse the racist practices imposed on Aboriginals. The drama of such an event heightened with the use of vintage-inspired B-grade horror movie aesthetic - an ironic 'spoofy' edge.australian first nations art, photography, colonialisation, sci-fi

Excerpt from Lower Plenty River Archaeological Survey by Fiona Weaver. Section 5 on Aboriginal archaeological sites in the Lower Plenty River area.A survey of First Nations sites in the Lower Plenty River area.Copy of part of book.lower plenty river, aboriginal sites

Once in a great while there comes a novel of such emotional impact and acute insight that it forever changes the way a reader sees a nation or an era.vietnamese conflict, 1961-1975 -- veterans - fiction, deserters, military - fiction

Beret belonging to "Gordon Bruce Bearman". See Catalogue No. 7538 for service details.Light blue woolen beret with black band. White and gold metal badge attached to front. Badge features a map of the world surrounded by a laurel wreath. White Manufacturers' label sewn onto band. Brand name printed in white on inside.Printed on inside in white: "KENT, PURE WOOL, X-LARGE" beret, united nations peacekeeping, insignia, gordon bruce bearman

Far too many of these brave soldiers have suffered illness as a result of their services, and now we know that, for many of them, the health effects were also passed along to their children. That is more than anyone can ask in terms of service to nation.vietnam war, 1961-1975- - chemical warfare - health aspects, veterans - diseases - australia, wayne "sam" brown, conscription - australia, infantry medic, corps 3, chemical warfare

Black bound book with silver writing on spine. Dust jacket has collage of photographs on front, spine is black with white writing on it.non-fiction'Mercy trains - Australian Army Ambulance trains during World War II recounts the hitherto untold story of trains provided by Australia's State railway departments to convey the tens of thousands of the armed force's sick and wounded needing transportation across the continent. Conceived as large-scale ambulances to evacuate battle casualties suffered on Australian soil in the event of a landing by enemy forces, their role changed when Australia was spared the trauma of invasion. Instead, the trains becam mobile hospitals: their task to convey invalids from all allied (and enemy) forces to medical centres throughout the nation. One major assignment was to bring south from Queensland casualties evacuated from the battlefields of Papua-New Guinea, whose numbers reached crisis proportions at the close of 1942 and into early 1943. The trains were operated by United States Army personnel for twelve months, one in New South Wales and one in Queensland. Author Jim Harvey spent three years searching through Army (both Australian and U.S.) and railway department files and what he found was a story of demanding military, a penny-pinching government prepared to endanger the lives of train staff rather than permit necessary improvements, some railway operating problems, fires, more than a fair share of floods, a bombing attack, examples of a generosity from caring local communities, a dexicated staff of doctors, nurses, medical orderlies and cooks, supported at all times by sympathetic railwayment of all grades.' [from inside front dust jacked]australian nurses, world war two, wwii, ww2, papua new guinea, pacific theatre, homefront, australia

1988 is Australia's Bicentennial year: a year in which we celebrate the fact that we are a free nation, proud of our milticultural heritage and working with confidence toward the twentyfirst century.vietnam veterans reunion, prime minister r.j. hawke, prime miister of new zealand hon. d. lange