REIMAGINING THE BIRRARUNG

National Gallery of Victoria Exhibition

Using the 200-year-old method of processing photos with cyanotype, SBLA's work presents a sequence of layers that create a blueprint of the Birrarung as a collection of invisible systems. The work shows the presence of a human-centric ego that could be transformed if humans see themselves as part of the ecosystem. This is positioned as the pathway to improve the health of the Birrarung and its catchment.

Using river water to process the images, which capture fog, rain and found objects, the drawings are made from the Birrarung itself. The work depicts a future where the Birrarung is cleaned, relieved of agriculture and given back its riverbed, where it is free to roam and shift, feeding adjacent billabongs that act as refuges for birds and wildlife.

In this healthier future, private properties are de-fenced, gardens and verges are planted with nitrogen-fixing plants and new established trees are part of the river’s ecology. Rain gardens filter the water before connecting back into the river network. Signs of ownership are removed and replaced with names of meaning relative to Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country. Creeks and creeklets are stitched back together and new human infrastructure plays a dual role – it is inhabitable, yet also serves an ecological function.

Design Team Colin Chen | Matt Wakelin | Nuri Mohamad | Phoebe Baker | Simone Bliss | Georgia Aldous | Kate McCracken | Esther Honybun

Photos by Sean Fennessy and Phoebe Baker