• Bendigo Conservatory / 2019  /  Re-Imagining Bendigo Creek Installation

RE-IMAGINING BENDIGO CREEK

There is a project underway to improve the ecology of Bendigo Creek by increasing animal habitat, improving water quality and creating a riparian environment that the community can appreciate and enjoy. The plans to rejuvenate the creek have included the consultation of the local Dja Dja Wurrung community.

The values that the Dja Dja Warrung people hold for their Country are shaped from their belief systems that all things have marrup (spirit) – water, birds, plants, animals, rocks and mountains. Dja Dja Warrung people see all the land and it’s creatures in a holistic way, interconnected with each other and with the people. The rivers are the veins of the Country, they had a name and song and were celebrated as part of Country and Culture. Waterways provided food and medicine, and places to camp, hunt, fish and hold ceremonies. European colonisation has left the legacy of a degraded waterway, the ‘Reimagining Bendigo Creek’ project is an opportunity to restore Bendigo Creek as a vital and cherished place for the whole community in consultation with the Dja Dja Warrung and their knowledge of Country.

This installation uses knowledge sharing through creative and playful activities to help inform, inspire and connect communities to the Bendigo Creek rehabilitation project.The beautiful glass Conservatory in Bendigo’s Rosalind Park was transformed into an artful world with giant pop up books full of fauna sourced from early naturalist imagery, the endemic Whirrakee Wattle was marked with a collaborative Pom Pom Tree that grew over the timespan of the exhibition as people contributed to it. There was a giant sugar glider nest, a specimen table, a sound work and lots of great hands on activities.