Indigenous cultural sites under the spotlight in new national study

An Australian study of Indigenous cultural sites and spaces in urban and regional areas, led by the University of Melbourne in partnership with the City of Melbourne and Traditional Owners, explores what makes a culturally appropriate representation of Aboriginality. 

The publication Indigenous Place: Contemporary Buildings, Landmarks and Places of Significance in South-East Australia and Beyond was launched during Melbourne’s Indigenous Arts Festival and involved preliminary research towards creating a Victorian Indigenous Cultural Education and Knowledge Centre in Melbourne.

In the most comprehensive publication of its kind, the study surveyed artworks, landscape and civic projects as well as purpose-built Aboriginal cultural centres and museums in all major Australian cities and some remote and regional areas.

It aimed in particular to respond to the lack of Indigenous cultural centres in Australian metropolitan centres and the difficulties faced in building and sustaining them in remote locations. 

Associate Professor Anoma Pieris from the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning and an author of the publication said it revealed the complexity of processes, politics and practices behind the production of architecture for Indigenous culture.

“The creation and maintenance of these cultural spaces required key elements such as sustained collaborative efforts between state government bodies, Aboriginal communities and local interest groups.

“There are many good examples of successful cultural sites but without all these key elements, the project may fail long term,” she says. 

The study is part of an Australian Research Council grant between the University of Melbourne, Deakin University, the City of Melbourne Indigenous Arts Program, Reconciliation Victoria and The Victorian Traditional Owners Land Justice Group.

Through a number of collaborative research initiatives including the publication, a symposium and a creative consultation with traditional owners in regional Victoria, the research team explored the processes behind Indigenous cultural placemaking.

Dr Janet McGaw also from the University’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning who leads the ARC grant said “In an Australia that is moving toward decolonisation, we need to ask the question, does the now-familiar institutional model of the cultural centre need to be re-thought and we have gone through extensive consultation to investigate this aspect,” she says.

“How will the centre be connected to the periphery for example where half of Victoria’s Indigenous population reside?”

The authors say that many historical Indigenous cultural sites, including missions and reserves, are related to settler conflict, dispossession and massacres. 

However contemporary sites include Aboriginal organisations, commemorative sites, and political sites and cultural centres, which are often closely connected to histories of political activism and community empowerment. 

“In these terms, we are exploring contemporary Indigenous placemaking and asking such questions as what is an Indigenous cultural space? How is it located, identified and made visible through creative acts? What purpose and benefit might it serve to the Indigenous communities?,” Dr McGaw says.

Annette Xiberras, Co-Chair of the Victorian Traditional Owner Land Justice Group and Wurundjeri Elder said there was widespread support from Traditional Owners and the community at large to support the design and construct of a major facility in the Melbourne CBD that would showcase the First Nations ancient and living cultural heritage. 

“The book launch was another component of the overall strategy with the next step being a full feasibility study,” she says.

Melbourne architectural graduate Rueben Berg, co-founder and Director of Indigenous Architecture Victoria, an organisation that aims to strengthen Indigenous design and culture, and an author on the study, said Aboriginality was an untapped area for architects to be inspired for any new project in the built environment.

“This book shows us that there is so much out there in terms of how Aboriginality is represented culturally, which can then be used as a framework for any new project, whether it is by the Indigenous community or by any architects.

“Aboriginality is more than people typically perceive it to be, such as associations with Alice Springs, the desert and Kakadu. There is so much more going on that can inspire exciting new designs,” he says.

Ms Xiberras added the days of stark buildings with “boomerangs on the wall” are long dead and that “our people demand our buildings to be economically sustainable, multifunctional, environmentally friendly, of international standard and unique precincts.”

The project team say major funding would have to come from Australian governments and the private sector in order to achieve the goal of creating the new cultural venture.

The learnings of the ARC grant have been incorporated into teaching in the Melbourne School of Design, where studios are being run asking students to look at how the built environment can work to enhance the lives of Indigenous communities. 

“We have strategies in place to improve pathways for Indigenous students into the Bachelor of Environments degree to increase the numbers of Indigenous architects, landscape architects and urban planners into the professions responsible for creating our designed environments of the future,” Dr McGaw says.

The book was launched as part of the 2014 Melbourne Indigenous Arts Festival. 

http://www.abp.unimelb.edu.au/research/indigenous-placemaking