Memories of the Billabong is an exhibition and round-table panel event, building on Petrichor Collaborative’s Remembered Waters series and their community-led work at Como Billabong, and is presented as part of Melbourne Design Week 2026. The event features an exhibition of artworks reflecting on the enduring memory of water within Melbourne’s urban landscape, which will be displayed along the balcony of Como House
Visitors will encounter creative responses that reveal hidden waterways of Melbourne and invite reflection on how landscapes hold cultural and ecological memory.
The exhibition is accompanied by a round-table panel and visioning session, bringing together Traditional Owners, and representatives from Petrichor Collaborative and the National Trust.
Speakers:
Maddison Miller, Board Director National Trust of Australia (Victoria)
Maddison is a Darug woman and academic at the University of Melbourne. She has extensive experience in cultural heritage, working in archaeology and cultural heritage policy. Currently her research looks at ways of knowing Country, working with Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge holders to care for Country. She is a Councillor with the Biodiversity Council, and an alternate member of the Heritage Council of Victoria. Maddi was a participant in the inaugural Joan Kirner Emerging Leaders Program.
Justin Buckley, Executive Manager – Gardens and Landscapes National Trust of Australia (Victoria)
Justin oversees the management of all NTAV gardens and landscapes across Victoria. He leads the NTAV’s advocacy around natural heritage and environmental values, public open space, significant trees, biodiversity and urban greening.
Justin joined the NTAV as a qualified gardener and later Head Gardener of Rippon Lea Estate and has held additional roles managing several of our major heritage sites and various conservation projects. He is also a member of the Victorian committee of Botanic Gardens of Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ).
Janet Bolitho, Yarra Riverkeeper Association
Janet joined the Board of Yarra Riverkeeper Association in 2013 and became President in 2023. Before that, she was a councillor and Mayor at the City of Port Phillip where she was a champion for urban nature and Port Phillip Bay. Also on the committee of Westgate Biodiversity: Bili Nursery & Landcare, she brings a long standing commitment to the role of communities in caring for places, as well as an understanding of the policies governing the Yarra Birrarung.
Jakobi Ili-Jakobi, Petrichor Collaborative
Jakobi is a Djab Wurrung and Dhauwurd Wurrung man, cultural educator, emerging biocultural scientist and storyteller. Currently studying Plant Science (B-SCIEXTD) at the University of Melbourne, he has a passion for place-based storytelling, embedding biocultural scientific ways of knowing to inspire different perspectives on land, water and ecology. He believes that urban renaturalisation is an important step towards Caring for Country and is driven to contribute to events and projects that support Caring for Country and Traditional Owner desires for environmental restoration.
The panel with by moderated by Maria Bulmaga from Petrichor Collaborative.
Petrichor Collaborative is a landscape architecture and research practice focused on driving and promoting opportunities for First Nations-led processes, intrinsically tied to place and ecosystems.
Petrichor Collaborative acknowledges all Traditional Owners of Country throughout Victoria. We honour the connection, knowledge and care of plants, animals, land, water, and the stories of Country shared by First Peoples throughout Australia. We acknowledge the First Peoples of the lands we live on, the Wurundjeri-willam Woi Wurrung and Bunurong/Boon Wurrung peoples, and we pay our respects to Elders past and present. First Peoples Sovereignty never ceded.
Access
If you require the use of a ramp to access Como House, please email us ahead of schedule to coordinate this, on bookings@nattrust.com.au.
This event is being delivered in partnership with Petrichor Collaborative as part of the Melbourne Design Week.
