The Living Pavilion is celebrating Indigenous knowledge, ecological science and sustainable design at Melbourne University until the 17th of May.
The Living Pavilion features sixty free public events including artworks, performances and presentations that celebrate Melbourne’s natural environment.
The centrepiece of the event is an installation, by Aboriginal artist Dixon Patten, made of 40,000 Kulin Nation plants surrounding a stencilled re-imagined Bouverie Creek.
Melbourne University research and Associate Producer of the Living Pavilion Zena Cumpston says these plants have been cultivated by Aboriginal communities through careful custodianship over thousands of generations.
“We are trying to make people aware that this place is an Aboriginal place, to make them understand that Wurundjeri culture is a living culture, we are using a lot of the plants from the wider Kuliln Nation,” Zena Cumpston said.
The Associate Producer added that plants are a portal through which Aboriginal knowledge systems, histories and culture may be celebrated and better understood.
“I hope the work we have done helps a wide audience to understand that all land in Australia is Aboriginal land, whether urban or remote, and that Aboriginal culture and people are living, strong, dynamic and intrinsically connected to, and embedded in place,” Zena Cumpston said.
The Living Pavilion is a major initiative in Melbourne University’s Reconciliation Action Plan.