Murrup Laarr translates as 'Ancestral Stones' in Wadawurrung. This artwork by Dr Deanne Gilson is located in the North Gardens Indigenous Sculpture Park. The park is a significant project for the City of Ballarat and features works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, celebrating the richness and diversity of culture and telling important cultural stories. Dr Deanne Gilson is a Wadawarrung Traditional Custodian and established artist. She installed the first artwork commissioned by the City of Ballarat for the Sculpture Park in early 2019. Murrup Laarr is a contemporary artwork consisting of a traditionally-built stone hut in the middle of a circle of basalt standing stones, marked with ceramic plates reflecting the stories and symbols of dreaming, memory, ceremony.The artwork is of aesthetic and cultural, social and spiritual significance to the people of Ballarat and to Wadawurrung peopleA traditional hut made from river stone and stacked rocks, with the hut surrounded by large basalt rocks with plaques featuring unique designs on stoneware plates imbedded into them. Murrup Laarr (Ancestral Stones), 2019 / By Deanne Gilson / Wadawurrung people have always used stones to mark places of ceremony and important business. The stones are the holders of memory and knowledge, Country and Spirit. They mark the cosmos and seasons. They follow the sun, marking the summer and winter solstice, important dates for planting and harvesting and telling stories of past, present and future. / The stones are alive and still present. Murrup Laar has been created using local basalt stones to tell Wadawurrung stories of dreaming, memory and ceremony. / “Creating Murrup Laarr (Ancestral Stones) at this time has placed Aboriginal people and practices back on Country and created a place to tell our stories. I am very honoured to have had this opportunity. An Aboriginal stone circle existed in Ballarat pre-colonisation; by putting back what was lost throughout colonisation I pay homage to my ancestors, past, present and emerging”/ – Deanne Gilson, March 2019 murrup laarr, wadawurrung

Standing proud, still here, the spirit of ten ancestral matriarchs adorned in contemporary ceremonial cloaks. Representing our women past, present and future, her Spirit, our culture, our Country (spelt with a capital for its importance and this is part of First Peoples protocols on acknowledging Country, our strength, our resilience and healing towards a sustainable future). The colours of this cloak refer to natural pink ochre and indigenous flowering plants on Wadawurrung Dja. The pink ochre is sourced by Deanne Gilson at Black Hill in Ballarat, Victoria. Men also made woven dilly bags to hold their possessions in. The basket making was an ongoing aspect of daily life for Wadawurrung people and often done in cooler months when the weather was too bad to go outside. Many women and family groups had their own style and techniques that were traded amongst other groups. Wadawurrung women had a particular stitch they used and incorporated elaborate symbols into the basket designs. Tammy Gilson’s weaving represents this stitch. This cloak pays homage to them and the changing seasons as they created, particularly the cooler months leading into the warmer season when several gum blossom flower. This cloak was worn once by artist Deanne Gilson at a formal opening at the Art Gallery of Ballarat in 2022. A Welcome to Country ceremony was performed while wearing it.Pink native flower in baskets motif on a pink background on outer cloak, pink and white diamond and circle design in lining. Solid black trimming. Cloak is machine sewn and handstitched with hand stitching on shoulder seam.deanne gilson, wadawurrung dja, first nations art

Standing proud, still here, the spirit of ten ancestral matriarchs adorned in contemporary ceremonial cloaks. Representing our women past, present and future, her Spirit, our culture, our Country (spelt with a capital for its importance and this is part of First Peoples protocols on acknowledging Country, our strength, our resilience and healing towards a sustainable future). The black swan cloak refers to the black swan of Geelong and Ballarat were the swan has had its own fight to survive during the early colonial years where white swans were introduced by colonisers and the black swan fought back as they do not naturally get along. The wave pattern is taken from a traditional shield pattern held in the Melbourne Museum, South Eastern archive collection of shields. The wave refers to the water and travelling across water to fish, hunt and survive. This cloak is about survival, water, and the swan living on the water. It also refers to a contemporary dance of Kunuwarra the black swan, which was performed by a group Wadawurrung women (including artist Deanne Gilson) for Tanderrum (Melbourne – Naarm) in 2016. The dance is available to watch on youtube.Black swan, heart motif with water design on outer cloak, female figure and red native flower design on lining. Solid black trimming. Cloak is machine sewn and handstitched with hand stitching on shoulder seam.deanne gilson, first nations art, wadawurrung dja

My name is Deanne Gilson and I am a proud Wadawurrung woman living on my ancestral Country around Ballarat in Victoria. My practise aims to highlight and bring back traditional women’s symbols and ceremonial practises that reference the lived experience of my ancestors. By reviving traditional marks found on artefacts and women’s business, I am forming links with past ancestral knowledge so that is not lost and continues for the future generations. My art practice relies heavily on the use of symbols and form as a metaphor for the body. I have worked as a full-time artist for over thirty-five years. Many artworks tell stories of the spiritual aspects of culture and myths. Dreaming and Songlines, further creating a yarning space, bring the gap towards reconciliation and healing for my people and others through shared sharing stories. A main focus of my art practice tells the birthing tree and scar tree stories and how Wadawurrung women have evolved and survived, since before and after colonisation. The old symbols find new life, connecting to the contemporary ones, further connecting us all to this Country we all call home.Yaluk, Beep, Murrup, meaning Water, Country, Spirit, incorporates the traditional mark of the wave pattern (often found on wooden shields) used by my ancestors, along with the basalt plains across Wadawurrung Country. By depicting the interaction between the Water and Country, I use ancestral knowledges that are not seen but intuitive to myself, while juxtaposing them against the ancestral stone circle knowledges, embedded with the DNA of our stories. The ochre is reclaimed as real, it is marni-beek, meaning Country, in particular the white ceremonial ochre, often seen on the painted-up figure and used today to reconnect back to our ancestral memory. Reclaiming what was lost through colonisation, but still present in our Dreaming that flows on today through the water spirit. Country has no time limits and water connects to our bodies, which are made up of water. We as a clan, are still here today, living and being on Country, our ancestral spirits live on through us. The original painting is a contemporary account of using ochre to reclaim ancestral knowledge and to be part of the ceremony that is yaluk, beep, murrup. wadawurrung, deanne gilson, water, country, spirit, first nations art

Standing proud, still here, the spirit of ten ancestral matriarchs adorned in contemporary ceremonial cloaks. Representing our women past, present and future, her Spirit, our culture, our Country (spelt with a capital for its importance and this is part of First Peoples protocols on acknowledging Country, our strength, our resilience and healing towards a sustainable future). The circle and diamond pattern are ancient symbols used by Wadawurrung people dating pre-colonisation on possum skin and kangaroo skin cloaks, other artefacts like spear heads (carved), wooden shields, stone tools and caves were painted with blood, ochre and bound with grass tree sap, black wattle tree sap and kangaroo fats. The diamond pattern was a strong design used by men on shields and women on baskets and adornments. Shields were taken from the tree in the colder months when the tree was cold as the wood came off cleaner. Ochre colours of red, white, yellow and charcoal were often used to colour in and decorate the skin side of possum skin cloaks, wooden shields, spear heads, baskets and some coolamon bowls.The design for this cloak has been simplified from the original artefact design.Cloak with black and white diamond and circle design on outer cloak and coral and white line pattern within lining. Trimming is solid black. Cloak is machine sewn and handstitched with hand stitching on shoulder seam.deanne gilson, wadawurrung, first nations, cloak

Standing proud, still here, the spirit of ten ancestral matriarchs adorned in contemporary ceremonial cloaks. Representing our women past, present and future, her Spirit, our culture, our Country (spelt with a capital for its importance and this is part of First Peoples protocols on acknowledging Country, our strength, our resilience and healing towards a sustainable future).The sacred banksia tree was a favourite for Wadawurrung people. Flowering before deep Winter, the banksia was used for spear making and other wooden tools. The sap was drunk as a sweet drink and the seed pods used for water straining and fire sticks. The banksia tree flowers at the time when fire sticks farming is practiced marking the days before the coldest days and nights and the hotter days.White, orange, and yellow banksia design on outer cloak, yellow and white circle and diamond design in lining. Solid black trimming. Cloak is machine sewn and handstitched with hand stitching on shoulder seam.deanne gilson, wadawurrung dja, first nations art, cloak

Standing proud, still here, the spirit of ten ancestral matriarchs adorned in contemporary ceremonial cloaks. Representing our women past, present and future, her Spirit, our culture, our Country (spelt with a capital for its importance and this is part of First Peoples protocols on acknowledging Country, our strength, our resilience and healing towards a sustainable future. The white ochre was used to create the feather pattern. White ochre is deeply connected to spirit or ‘murrup’ as we call it in language. The ochre is used on our bodies in ceremonies to paint our body up and is also placed on graves when someone passes. The white ochre is our most sacred connection to our ancestors and is used to celebrate both life and death. I source the white ochre from the You Yangs and only take what I need for ceremony and my painting.White and black feather motif with yellow eye design on outer clock, brown feather motif in lining. Solid black trimming. Cloak is machine sewn and handstitched with hand stitching on shoulder seam.deanne gilson, wadawurrung dja, first nations art, cloak

Standing proud, still here, the spirit of ten ancestral matriarchs adorned in contemporary ceremonial cloaks. Representing our women past, present and future, her Spirit, our culture, our Country (spelt with a capital for its importance and this is part of First Peoples protocols on acknowledging Country, our strength, our resilience and healing towards a sustainable future). Bunjil the eagle used to be a man called Karringalabil. As a man he created the first man and woman out of bark from the sacred manna gum tree and clay from the river bed. He created the plants, animals, mountains, waterways, sky and under Country. After which he turned himself into an eagle. He has two wives, Kunuwarra the black swan sisters. After he completed all of creation he flew up into the sky at Lal Lal Falls and he now watched over us as a star in the night sky and as an eagle by day.Brown, red and white tone feather motif with yellow eye design on outer clock, red and black diamond and circle design in lining. Solid black trimming. Cloak is machine sewn and handstitched with hand stitching on shoulder seam.deanne gilson, wadawurrung dja, first nations art, cloak

Standing proud, still here, the spirit of ten ancestral matriarchs adorned in contemporary ceremonial cloaks. Representing our women past, present and future, her Spirit, our culture, our Country (spelt with a capital for its importance and this is part of First Peoples protocols on acknowledging Country, our strength, our resilience and healing towards a sustainable future). Waa the Crow Totem Cloak (Waa represents our ancestors watching over us). Waa and all the birds get their names by the sounds the bird makes.Blue feather motif with blue star background on outer clock, blue and black feather design in lining. Solid black trimming. Cloak is machine sewn and handstitched with hand stitching on shoulder seam.deanne gilson, wadawurrung dja, first nations art, cloak

Standing proud, still here, the spirit of ten ancestral matriarchs adorned in contemporary ceremonial cloaks. Representing our women past, present and future, her Spirit, our culture, our Country (spelt with a capital for its importance and this is part of First Peoples protocols on acknowledging Country, our strength, our resilience and healing towards a sustainable future. The murnong was one of the main food sources for First Peoples before colonisation as it grew right across Wadawurrung Dja. The introduction of the sheep and cattle saw the murnong eaten roots and all and it quickly became less plentiful. The tubers were eaten raw or roasted on a fire. Water could be added to make a paste for small children to eat. The woman’s wooden digging stick that was used to gather and harvest plants was often buried with the woman for her afterlife and is considered sacred women’s knowledge. All parts of the plants and trees were and still are honoured as sacred medicine, healing plants and bush food knowledge.Yellow flower and female figure motif on black background on outer cloak, black and white diamond, and circle design in lining. Solid black trimming. Cloak is machine sewn and handstitched with hand stitching on shoulder seam.deanne gilson, wadawurrung dja, first nations art, cloak, murnong

Standing proud, still here, the spirit of ten ancestral matriarchs adorned in contemporary ceremonial cloaks. Representing our women past, present and future, her Spirit, our culture, our Country (spelt with a capital for its importance and this is part of First Peoples protocols on acknowledging Country, our strength, our resilience and healing towards a sustainable future). This cloak represents a traditional shield and stands for strength, resilience and standing proud. It protects us as we move forward. The gold represents the gold fields of Ballarat and Golden Plains shire. It also represents fool’s gold (pyrite) as First People had no use of gold, instead the people are the gold.Black, white, and red stripe design with flower and stem motif on outer cloak. Lining is a red and white stripe motif. Trimming is solid black. Cloak is machine sewn and handstitched with hand stitching on shoulder seam.deanne gilson, wadawurrung dja, first nations art, cloak, murnong

Standing proud, still here, the spirit of ten ancestral matriarchs adorned in contemporary ceremonial cloaks. Representing our women past, present and future, her Spirit, our culture, our Country (spelt with a capital for its importance and this is part of First Peoples protocols on acknowledging Country, our strength, our resilience and healing towards a sustainable future). Deanne states that this is her favourite season and she loves painting the small orchids as they flower after the cold season begins to clear.Black cloak with pink and purple toned flower motif on outer cloak, purple and black diamond, and circle design in lining. Solid black trimming. Cloak is machine sewn and handstitched with hand stitching on shoulder seam.deanne gilson, wadawurrung dja, first nations art, cloak, murnong

Dr Deanne Gilson is a proud Wadawurrung woman living on her ancestral Country of Ballarat. Her award-winning multidisciplinary art practice has spanned forty years full time creating through painting, clay (sculptural installation), fashion & textile design, photography, drawing and recently being recognised at the Koorie Heritage Trust for her work as a Blak Jewellery Designer. Celebrating her continued living culture through art and design that revives traditional marks used by Wadawurrung family, contemporary ceremonial business and including oral stories like her Creation Story. She depicts many indigenous plants, trees, birds, often painting endangered species to highlight the importance of taking care of the land and all living things. Working with the notion that time is traversed and all is connected through layers of Dja (Country), from the Cosmos, to Sky to Under Country. Alongside the issues faced by Aboriginal women stemming from the white male and female colonial gaze. 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

Dr Deanne Gilson is a proud Wadawurrung woman living on her ancestral Country of Ballarat. Her award-winning multidisciplinary art practice has spanned forty years full time creating through painting, clay (sculptural installation), fashion & textile design, photography, drawing and recently being recognised at the Koorie Heritage Trust for her work as a Blak Jewellery Designer. Celebrating her continued living culture through art and design that revives traditional marks used by Wadawurrung family, contemporary ceremonial business and including oral stories like her Creation Story. She depicts many indigenous plants, trees, birds, often painting endangered species to highlight the importance of taking care of the land and all living things. Working with the notion that time is traversed and all is connected through layers of Dja (Country), from the Cosmos, to Sky to Under Country. Alongside the issues faced by Aboriginal women stemming from the white male and female colonial gaze. 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

Transfer drawing made at Wunggurrwil Dhurrung Community Centre, and screen printed at Negative Press. public art, australian first nations art, printmaking

‘Post Preston, After the Bushfires, Our Country, Plants and Animals Need Healing’, is Deanne Gilson’s response to Margaret Preston’s culturally appropriative works. With this painting, Deanne interrogates a complex field of inquiry regarding the objectified colonialist gaze, inappropriate commodification of cultural material and a reclaiming of lost knowledge. This work also speaks to the complicated history of the Bundoora Homestead site and challenges historical truth narratives from the settler perspective and works as an excellent companion to her mother Marlene Gilson’s ‘The Life and Times of Bundoora Homestead’ artwork, commissioned for the Darebin Art Collection in 2018. ‘Post Preston, After the Bushfires, Our Country, Plants and Animals Need Healing’ was a winning work in the 2021 Koorie Art Show. Artist Bio Dr Deanne Gilson is a proud Wadawurrung woman and an award-winning visual artist living and creating from her ancestral home of Ballarat in Victoria. Her multidisciplinary art practice interrogates the colonial disruption of her family and explores ways in which contemporary art can create a platform towards healing, acceptance and reclaiming cultural identity, often drawing upon traditional knowledges of her ancestors. The Victorian bush where Gilson grew up features predominantly in all of her paintings, alongside many Indigenous plants, trees and birds from her Creation Story. Gilson draws upon layers of tangible and intangible knowledge, she talks about the presence of the intangible as spiritual connections to Country and her ancestors, while the tangible knowledge reflects artefacts and other objects of daily Wadawurrung life. Her works portray a rich cultural history that continues to thrive and grow today despite the restrictions placed on her family by settlement. Gilson’s practice defines Aboriginal women’s business past and present through contemporary art. Traditional marks alongside contemporary marks, link her to the practices of Indigenous mark-making, especially that on her body when in ceremony. Stating that “all of my artworks are an extension of my women’s business and draw on ochre sourced from Wadawurrung Dja (Country)”. The white is used in traditional ceremonies, while the charcoal is a direct link to Gilson’s matriarchal line of her mother’s business. Gilson’s mother, Marlene Gilson, also an artist, gathers charcoal from her daily fire, passing this onto her daughter, extending upon the old and the new ways of sharing knowledge and connection to Country.

“The sweet-smelling chocolate lily is a favourite of mine. It has a scent similar to that of chocolate and can be eaten raw and added to other foods as a decoration on top of cakes. I like it because it is a pretty little plant that you can’t walk by without noticing. The cabbage butterflies are ancestral spirits watching.” — Deanne Gilson In 'Karrap Karrap Beenyak — Flower Baskets of Knowledge', Deanne Gilson depicts dilly bags and baskets drawn from the South Eastern collection of artefacts held within the Melbourne Museum, and gifts from family and friends. They reclaim cultural knowledge, mixing tradition with the lived experiences of her ancestors and re-enriching her life with culture, Country and connection, through the creation of new art. The works highlight the use of Indigenous plants for healing and bush foods, and the Wadawurrung Creation Story and connection to Dja (Country). Artist Bio Dr Deanne Gilson is a proud Wadawurrung woman and an award-winning visual artist living and creating from her ancestral home of Ballarat in Victoria. Her multidisciplinary art practice interrogates the colonial disruption of her family and explores ways in which contemporary art can create a platform towards healing, acceptance and reclaiming cultural identity, often drawing upon traditional knowledges of her ancestors. The Victorian bush where Gilson grew up features predominantly in all of her paintings, alongside many Indigenous plants, trees and birds from her Creation Story. Gilson draws upon layers of tangible and intangible knowledge, she talks about the presence of the intangible as spiritual connections to Country and her ancestors, while the tangible knowledge reflects artefacts and other objects of daily Wadawurrung life. Her works portray a rich cultural history that continues to thrive and grow today despite the restrictions placed on her family by settlement. Gilson’s practice defines Aboriginal women’s business past and present through contemporary art. Traditional marks alongside contemporary marks, link her to the practices of Indigenous mark-making, especially that on her body when in ceremony. Stating that “all of my artworks are an extension of my women’s business and draw on ochre sourced from Wadawurrung Dja (Country)”. The white is used in traditional ceremonies, while the charcoal is a direct link to Gilson’s matriarchal line of her mother’s business. Gilson’s mother, Marlene Gilson, also an artist, gathers charcoal from her daily fire, passing this onto her daughter, extending upon the old and the new ways of sharing knowledge and connection to Country. Painting

Federation University Australia was established on 1 January 2014. Formerly known as the University of Ballarat, its enabling legislation was the University of Ballarat Amendment (Federation University Australia) Act 2013. Although formally created as a University in 1994, the University of Ballarat had a lineage back to 1870 with the establishment of the School of Mines Ballarat, making it the third institution of higher learning to be established in Australia and the first to be established in regional Australia. On 1 January 1994, Ballarat University College became the University of Ballarat and in 1998 the University merged with three TAFE Institutes to become a dual sector institution with multiple campuses. On 1 January 2014, the University of Ballarat amalgamated with the Monash University Gippsland Campus to form Federation University Australia. The Gippsland Campus also had a long lineage dating back to 1928 with the establishment of the Yallourn Technical School which became a predecessor institution to the Gippsland College of Advanced Education formed in 1968. In 1990, it was renamed the Monash University College and in 1993 became the Gippsland Campus of Monash University. Federation University Australia, or FedUni, is Australia’s newest public University. Headquartered in Ballarat, Victoria, the University offers programs in Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training to regional Victoria and beyond. The University’s commitment to educational and social equity, teaching excellence, research distinction, environmental sustainability and regional capacity building has enabled it to develop in a way that draws on its proud heritage to inform its future. Its regional character sets a framework for the University’s priorities but does not constrain it from serving wider community interests, nationally and internationally. With campuses from Horsham in the west of the state, to Churchill in the east, the name Federation University Australia was chosen to convey the scope and capacity of an expanded regional university with a federated network of campuses contributing to a new and different Australian university.Soft covered annual report of 152 pages with a photo of a building under construction on the cover. Photographs include Y Building (Science) under construction, University of Ballarat Pipe Band, Ted Ballieu, Julia Gillard, Honorary Doctorate to Jeremy Johnson; Grant Petch, Khoa Do, Sonia Tuner, Lisa Marshall, Danielle Button, Rana Stollery, Christopher Schliefort Inscriptions and Markings peter hall, robert smith, ebony place, michael thurston, roger donaldson, heather ridout, petch, khoa do, sonia turner, colin marshall, university of ballarat act, sizer, quigley, walker, wilson, mcquilton, simmons, doig, hobday, douglas, hemming, paul hemming, coutts, holmes, battersby, david battersby, reconciliation, reconciliation action plan, atkinson, fagan, balliue, gillard, prime minister, premier, pipe band, university of ballarat pipe band, pipe band championships, jeremy johnson, sovereign hill scholarships, foundation. chancellor's circle, robert h.t. smith, bonnie fagan, bonnie chew, ashlee rodgers, shanaya sheridan, alinta edwards, deanne gilson, ben atkinson, ted ballieu, julia gillard, nick maxwell, e.j. barker, jeanetta kerr-grant, grant petch, sonia tuner, lisa marshall, danielle button, rana stollery, mt rowan equine centre, christopher schliefort, honorary doctorate, university of ballarat

Set of two Newspaper clippings from The Courier, Ballarat, 8 July 2021 .1 - titled "Congratulations to the Ballarat Tramway Museum on receiving $1.2m from the Andrews Government for track replacement.". Item sponsored by Juliana Addison MP. Has a photo of 10 people alongside Geelong No. 2 at the time of the announcement. .2 - "First Nations Art on the move" - featuring a photo of a B class tram, by Deanne Gilson (local Ballarat artist) and Thomas Marks. Photo by James Morgan.art work, transporting art, b class