Featuring projections, animations and soundscapes, alongside handcrafted works, this immersive exhibition is the culmination of Place Names Melville, a two-year Noongar-led project decoding the meanings of ancient Noongar placenames found in the Melville area.
Visitors to Doontanboro Kura will be invited to connect with Noongar culture and language, generously shared by the Noongar Elders, Traditional Owners and community members who have worked with artists to create the artworks displayed.
Central to the exhibition is a large-scale, handmade map of the Melville area that features the locations of 17 ancient Noongar placenames, layered with traditional Noongar iconography referencing the plants, animals and rituals of this boodja (land).
Another highlight is a massive animated projection of the ancient Noongar story of the creation of Wagoorjup (where the two rivers meet, at Canning Bridge) that will illuminate Wireless Hill, screened four times during the exhibition season. Learn more about the Wagoorjup animation.
Those screenings will take place at four special evening events: The exhibition launch, on Friday, 4 October will include talks from the Noongar participants about the stories and meanings embedded in the artworks, and the processes behind their creation, as well as refreshments.
On Friday, 11 October, Fireside Friday: Yarning with Elders, is an opportunity to sit around a fire and hear stories from the Country and people.
Mapping Boodja, on Thursday, 24 October, takes visitors on a guided tour of Noongar placenames decoded during the project, exploring their meanings and the stories and traditions embedded in the Melville area. The last opportunity to see the Wagoorjup projection will be at the Closing Celebration, on Saturday, 26 October, which will include artist talks, a DJ set and an opportunity for yarning with friends and family.
At the heart of this exhibition, and the Place Names Melville project, is language revitalisation; the reclaiming of the original Noongar placenames of the Melville area and their meanings and cultural significance.
The process of decoding these ancient placenames was facilitated by Whadjuk Nyungar Traditional Owner Dr Len Collard from Moodjar.
Of the more than 250 Indigenous Australian languages spoken at the time of colonisation, by 2016 only 120 were still spoken and in 2019 90% of these were considered endangered*.
Place Names Melville is part of a national movement to reverse this trend, by preserving First Nations language and culture. For the Noongar Elders, Traditional Owners and community members involved in Place Names Melville, the project has had many benefits in terms of intergenerational learning, truth-telling and healing.
Place Names Melville is the result of an innovative partnership between Community Arts Network, Moodjar and the City of Melville, and is funded by Lotterywest.
Read more about the Place Names Melville project here.
*https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/languages-alive
- Whadjuk Nyungar Traditional Owner Len Collard, Director Moodjar
"You cannot disassociate yourself from the broader Noongar country. It’s like a spider web; we are all connected. There are dreaming lines that connect all parts of boodja and connect us all. If you break that web, you break your culture. If you drive around, you’ll see Noongar words everywhere. We need to come together as Noongars, otherwise we’ll keep cutting that spider web."
- Whadjuk Noongar Elder and Place Names Decoding Advisory Group member and community artist Trevor Walley.
"We talk about wirrin, kwop wirrin or good spirit, and warra wirrin, bad spirit … This water mapping, this clay making – that’s soul stuff, that’s wirrin stuff. We need more of these sessions, yarning with men and women together. We used to separate the men and women and tell the kids to go away. But how can our children learn and get good values, learn their Noongar values and beliefs, if we do that? We need to start being leaders and telling our young people to come here, sit down here and listen and learn. And that’s what we’re doing."
- Nyoongar Cultural Adviser and Place Names Contributing Artist Charne Hayden.
"I’ve been working in community and cultural development for 20 years, this is the fifth time I’ve been involved in a Place Names project.. The conversations during Place Names Melville have been some of the thickest and richest that I’ve worked with to date.
I’m basically an outsider on this Boodja. This is not my culture. It’s almost like being permitted into a family’s dinner conversation; it’s personal, it’s political, there’s conflict and there’s conflict resolution, there’s love and there’s laughs. The arts, for me, are a conduit to talking about culture and meeting people. So to be part of that cultural dinner table, as an artist, is a privilege beyond
words.
- Natalie Scholtz, Place Names Melville Creative Producer, Community Arts Network
“Place Names Melville is an incredibly important project for the City of Melville and part of our commitment to reconciliation, truth-telling and meaningful engagement with First Nations Peoples.
The community-led creative process has uncovered 17 Noongar place names within the City of Melville, contributing to our understanding of Noongar culture and language, and enriching the cultural and historical landscape of Melville.
This project would not be possible without the knowledge and participation of Elders, Traditional Owners and First Nations community members, which we are very grateful for.
I would also like to thank our project partners Community Arts Network(CAN) and Moodjar
Consultancy, and Lotterywest who provided $709,175 in funding.”
- City of Melville Deputy Mayor Glynis Barber
4 to 27 October 2024, opening hours 10.00am-4.00pm, Wednesday to Sunday
Wireless Hill Museum
Yagan Mia Wireless Hill Park, Telefunken Drive (extending from Almondbury Road), Ardross WA
can.org.au/news/doontanboro-kura
Wireless Hill Museum
Yagan Mia Wireless Hill Park, Telefunken Drive (extending from Almondbury Road), Ardross WA
doontanboro-kura.eventbrite.com.au/
Wireless Hill Museum
fireside-friday.eventbrite.com.au
Wireless Hill Museum
mapping-boodja.eventbrite.com.au
Wireless Hill Museum
doontanboro-kura-closing.eventbrite.com.au
Visitors to Doontanboro Kura will be invited to connect with Noongar culture and language, generously shared by the Noongar Elders, Traditional Owners and community members who have worked with artists to create the artworks displayed.
Central to the exhibition is a large-scale, handmade map of the Melville area that features the locations of 17 ancient Noongar placenames, layered with traditional Noongar iconography referencing the plants, animals and rituals of this boodja (land).
Another highlight is a massive animated projection of the ancient Noongar story of the creation of Wagoorjup (where the two rivers meet, at Canning Bridge) that will illuminate Wireless Hill, screened four times during the exhibition season. Learn more about the Wagoorjup animation.
Those screenings will take place at four special evening events: The exhibition launch, on Friday, 4 October will include talks from the Noongar participants about the stories and meanings embedded in the artworks, and the processes behind their creation, as well as refreshments.
On Friday, 11 October, Fireside Friday: Yarning with Elders, is an opportunity to sit around a fire and hear stories from the Country and people.
Mapping Boodja, on Thursday, 24 October, takes visitors on a guided tour of Noongar placenames decoded during the project, exploring their meanings and the stories and traditions embedded in the Melville area. The last opportunity to see the Wagoorjup projection will be at the Closing Celebration, on Saturday, 26 October, which will include artist talks, a DJ set and an opportunity for yarning with friends and family.
At the heart of this exhibition, and the Place Names Melville project, is language revitalisation; the reclaiming of the original Noongar placenames of the Melville area and their meanings and cultural significance.
The process of decoding these ancient placenames was facilitated by Whadjuk Nyungar Traditional Owner Dr Len Collard from Moodjar.
Of the more than 250 Indigenous Australian languages spoken at the time of colonisation, by 2016 only 120 were still spoken and in 2019 90% of these were considered endangered*.
Place Names Melville is part of a national movement to reverse this trend, by preserving First Nations language and culture. For the Noongar Elders, Traditional Owners and community members involved in Place Names Melville, the project has had many benefits in terms of intergenerational learning, truth-telling and healing.
Place Names Melville is the result of an innovative partnership between Community Arts Network, Moodjar and the City of Melville, and is funded by Lotterywest.
Read more about the Place Names Melville project here.
*https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/languages-alive
Quotes
"What Place Names does is bring moort, kaartajin, and boodja to participating Nyungars. People who come to this project have gone through trauma. They might be Stolen Generations. And connecting with other Elders, learning about Country, as we do in Place Names - what we’re doing here is healing people."- Whadjuk Nyungar Traditional Owner Len Collard, Director Moodjar
"You cannot disassociate yourself from the broader Noongar country. It’s like a spider web; we are all connected. There are dreaming lines that connect all parts of boodja and connect us all. If you break that web, you break your culture. If you drive around, you’ll see Noongar words everywhere. We need to come together as Noongars, otherwise we’ll keep cutting that spider web."
- Whadjuk Noongar Elder and Place Names Decoding Advisory Group member and community artist Trevor Walley.
"We talk about wirrin, kwop wirrin or good spirit, and warra wirrin, bad spirit … This water mapping, this clay making – that’s soul stuff, that’s wirrin stuff. We need more of these sessions, yarning with men and women together. We used to separate the men and women and tell the kids to go away. But how can our children learn and get good values, learn their Noongar values and beliefs, if we do that? We need to start being leaders and telling our young people to come here, sit down here and listen and learn. And that’s what we’re doing."
- Nyoongar Cultural Adviser and Place Names Contributing Artist Charne Hayden.
"I’ve been working in community and cultural development for 20 years, this is the fifth time I’ve been involved in a Place Names project.. The conversations during Place Names Melville have been some of the thickest and richest that I’ve worked with to date.
I’m basically an outsider on this Boodja. This is not my culture. It’s almost like being permitted into a family’s dinner conversation; it’s personal, it’s political, there’s conflict and there’s conflict resolution, there’s love and there’s laughs. The arts, for me, are a conduit to talking about culture and meeting people. So to be part of that cultural dinner table, as an artist, is a privilege beyond
words.
- Natalie Scholtz, Place Names Melville Creative Producer, Community Arts Network
“Place Names Melville is an incredibly important project for the City of Melville and part of our commitment to reconciliation, truth-telling and meaningful engagement with First Nations Peoples.
The community-led creative process has uncovered 17 Noongar place names within the City of Melville, contributing to our understanding of Noongar culture and language, and enriching the cultural and historical landscape of Melville.
This project would not be possible without the knowledge and participation of Elders, Traditional Owners and First Nations community members, which we are very grateful for.
I would also like to thank our project partners Community Arts Network(CAN) and Moodjar
Consultancy, and Lotterywest who provided $709,175 in funding.”
- City of Melville Deputy Mayor Glynis Barber
Doontanboro Kura | Melville Waters
4 to 27 October 2024, opening hours 10.00am-4.00pm, Wednesday to SundayWireless Hill Museum
Yagan Mia Wireless Hill Park, Telefunken Drive (extending from Almondbury Road), Ardross WA
can.org.au/news/doontanboro-kura
Exhibition launch
Friday, 4 October, 6.00pm-8.00pmWireless Hill Museum
Yagan Mia Wireless Hill Park, Telefunken Drive (extending from Almondbury Road), Ardross WA
doontanboro-kura.eventbrite.com.au/
Fireside Friday: Yarning with Elders
Friday, 11 October, 6.00pm to 8.00pmWireless Hill Museum
fireside-friday.eventbrite.com.au
Mapping Boodja: Learn more about the ancient Noongar names in the Melville area
Thursday 24 October, 6.45pm-8.00pmWireless Hill Museum
mapping-boodja.eventbrite.com.au
Closing celebration
Saturday, 26 October, 6.00pm-8.00pmWireless Hill Museum
doontanboro-kura-closing.eventbrite.com.au