Seed funding

2021 Recipients

YOYI (Dance)

Dr David Sequeira (Faculty of Fine Arts and Music) will work with the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development and Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association in the Tiwi Islands to produce the art exhibition ‘YOYI’. YOYI will comprise 30 bark paintings by emerging, midcareer, and senior artists, and a collaborative multi-channel video installation.

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Jilamara Artists on a sunny beach. Four of them are standing and one is sitting. They are painted in jilamara (a body paint design) for yoyi (dance).
Jilamara artists (L to R) Timothy Cook, Raylene Miller, Pedro Wonaeamirri, Columbiere Tipungwuti, Raelene Kerinauia painted up in jilamara (body paint design) for yoyi (dance) at Timrambu, Wulirankuwu, Melville Island. Image courtesy of the artists and Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association. Photo: Will Heathcote

Indigenous knowledges in the criminal “justice” context

Led by Professor Marcia Langton (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health), the project will examine how Indigenous knowledges have been incorporated into the criminal justice system.

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Birrarung’s billabongs: understanding their past to better manage them today

Dr Joe Greet (School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences) will work with the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung Corporation’s Narrap (Country) Unit Rangers and Melbourne Water to develop management plans for priority billabongs along the lower Birrarung (Yarra River).

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Group of people, most in hi-vis, standing amongst tall grass and plants in Bolin Bolin billabong. You can see eucalyptus trees behind the group, on the bank of the billabong.
Joe Greet, Narrap Unit Rangers, and Melbourne Water at Bolin Bolin billabong in 2021.

Social and Emotional Well-Being among Custodians of Australian Indigenous Knowledge

Led by Dr Candice Boyd (School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences), the project will explore the social and emotional well-being of Elders and Older People as the holders and transmitters of cultural knowledge.

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Revitalising and sharing knowledge through creativity: developing interdisciplinary research practice

Dr Andrea Rawluk will co-lead a project with Darug woman Maddison Miller, Professor Rod Keenan (each School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences) and Dr Gillian Howell (Faculty of Fine Arts and Music), working with Gunaikurnai Land and Water Aboriginal Corporation and Indigenous actor Leroy Parsons.

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2020 Recipients

Image of a man dancing in a dark room. The features of the room are in shadow and the dancing man is illuminated.
Dancer and choreographer Daniel Riley. Photo: Vishal Pandey

Wagambirra

Daniel Riley (Victorian College of the Arts) is an early career Wiradjuri researcher, as well as a highly experienced choreographer and dancer, who will explore the traditional Wiradjuri dance form in partnership with Wiradjuri Elders and communities in Dubbo. The project will assist in documentation and intergenerational transfer of cultural knowledge.

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Yoongoorookoo: First Law, legal comparison, and a Martuwarra/Fitzroy River creation story

Early career researcher Dr Erin O’Donnell (Melbourne Law School) will work in partnership with the Traditional Owners of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River, including Nyikina academic Dr Anne Poelina, to map the “First Law” of the river.

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Aerial photo of the Martuwarra river. Several branches of the river wind along amongst a green landscape.
Martuwarra (Fitzroy River). Photo: Jackson Gallagher
Loaf of grain made from native grains with sesame seeds on top. It is sitting on a cooling rack, a placemat, and a table with a red and black patterned tablecloth.
Bread made from native kangaroo and Microlaena grains.

Developing a food safety roadmap for commercialising Cumbungi

Enterprise Professor Bruce Pascoe and Associate Professor Kate Howell (Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences) will work with Black Duck Foods to develop a food safety roadmap for commercialising the native Cumbungi plant.

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Aboriginal Astronomical Knowledge of the Kulin Nation

Associate Professor Duane Hamacher (School of Physics) will coordinate a project that aims to document the Aboriginal Astronomical Knowledge of the Kulin Nation.

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Emu in the Sky. Photo: Andrew Wallace
Three men in Indonesia cooking on a traditional fire. Two men are crouching and one is standing.
Traditional way of cooking in Lembata, Eastern Indonesia. Photo: Melinda Wejak.

“If you look after nature, the land will look after you”: Indigenous knowledge of medicine and food in Lembata, Eastern Indonesia

Led by Dr Justin Wejak (Asia Institute), the project aims to explore Indigenous storytelling and knowledge practices related to food and medicinal plants on the island of Lembata in Eastern Indonesia. The project will also look at knowledge production and transmission, and the role of gender in Indigenous knowledge practices.

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