Dionne Higgins

Chief Operating Officer, RMIT University

The installation of Wurrunggi Biik: Law of the Land on our CBD campus, is a powerful statement of Aboriginal Sovereignty.

I’m honoured that as RMIT’s Chief Operating Officer, I’ve been given shared custodianship of this piece of public artwork—in partnership with the artist Vicki Couzens, Traditional Owners of this land and the RMIT University Arts Collection. As the daughter of an artist and someone who is deeply committed to reconciliation with our First Nations people, it’s not lost on me how powerful art can be in shaping the conversations we need to have, to build the society we wish to create.

Wurrunggi Biik: Law of the Land presents each of us with an opportunity to explore our own personal connection to Country. I look forward to the enduring and prominent presence of Wurrunggi Biik: Law of the Land at the centre of our RMIT city campus—which aligns with our reconciliation agenda being at the centre of RMIT’s identity and decision-making.

Let’s be proud of this, let’s not just walk by, let’s stop and reflect.

Acknowledgements

Many people have been instrumental in the realisation of the Wurrunggi Biik: Law of the Land public artwork as well as the making of this publication. While we are unable to mention everyone, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your contribution. In particular we would like to acknowledge the following people.

RMIT University: Alice Alberico (Project Officer, Capital Works Property Services Group); Parbinata Carolyn Briggs AM (Elder in Residence); Jon Buckingham (RMIT Gallery Collections Coordinator);

Stacey Campton (Director of Indigenous Engagement);

Di Cohen (NAS Project Manager); Professor Peter Coloe (VCE Sponsor of RMIT’s New Academic Street (NAS));

Jedda Costa (Ngarara Willim Student Representative);

Dr Vicki Couzens, (Artist, VC Indigenous Research Fellow); Suzanne Davies (Director, RMIT Gallery, 2018);

Abena Dove (RMIT Union Representative); Aunty

Kerrie Doyle (Associate Professor Indigenous Health);

Jeremy Elia (NAS Project Office Director); Sarah Firth (RMIT Union Representative); Professor Julian Goddard

(Head of School, School of Art, 2018); Dionne Higgins (RMIT’s Chief Operating Officer); Aunty Diane Kerr (Wurundjeri Elder); Professor Mark McMillan (Deputy

PVC Indigenous Education and Engagement); Ben Palmer (Project Manager, Capital Works); Janeene Payne (NAS Project Office Student Engagement and Events Manager); David Shaw (Senior Advisor, Health, Safety, Security); School of Art.

Image Credits

All images reproduced with permission.

Cover image: Matt Houston Photography pp. 2–3: Matt Houston Photography; p. 4: Grace Leone/Parbin-ata Carolyn Briggs; p. 6: Matt Houston

Photography; p. 13: Matt Houston Photography; p. 17: Matt Houston Photography.

THE COMMISSION pp. 18–19: Illustration by Hilary Jackman; p. 21: Illustrations by Hilary Jackman; p. 23 and p. 25: Image capture from Law of the Land, RMIT video; p. 27: Visual poem by Vicki Couzens.

THE PROCESS OF MAKING pp. 28–29: Photograph by Jeph Neale and Hilary Jackman; p. 30: Matt Houston Photography; pp. 38–95: Photographs by Jeph Neale and Hilary Jackman.

THE LAUNCH pp. 96–97. Photograph by Moorina Bonini; p. 101 Matt Houston Photography; p. 105: Matt Houston Photography; p. 106 Matt Houston Photography; p. 111 Matt Houston Photography; p. 114 Matt Houston Photography.

Editorial Note

Aboriginal languages are oral and sometimes there are different spellings and/or spelling systems across different languages.

External to RMIT: Peter Felicetti (Felicetti engineering); Hilary Jackman (artist); Carey Lyon (Lyon Architects);

Jeph Neale (sculptor).

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University.

RMIT University respectfully acknowledges Ancestors and Elders past and present.

RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.

Published in 2020 by the Bowen Street Press

Bowen Street Press

Building 9, Bowen Street

RMIT University

Melbourne Victoria 3000 www.bowenstreetpress.com.au

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or in any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter of 10% of this book, whichever is greater to be photocopied by any education institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.

Copyright text © individual credited authors

Copyright illustrations and photography © See Image Credits, p. 112

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia

ISBN: 978-1-922271-02-0

Book production: In collaboration with the Bowen Street Press team and Grace Leone

Text design and typesetting: Christopher Black

Cover design: Grace Leone

Printed and bound in Australia by Valiant Press