Reconciliation has been a fundamental pillar of our organisation since 2011, representing one of the most important commitments we have made in our 60+ year history. Reflecting on our past three Reconciliation Action Plans, we are excited to continue our meaningful work, continuing to learn and grow as we strengthen existing relationships and create new ones.
We believe that the preservation of Victoria’s heritage is a vital link to our cultural, educational, aesthetic, inspirational and economic legacies, and recognise the importance in elevating the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and individuals in protecting the richness of Victoria’s history and cultural heritage.
We are proud of our reconciliation work in advocacy, education, cultural engagement and custodianship. NTV continues to aspire for further reconciliation, creating more opportunities to further enrich an understanding and celebration of our shared heritage. Through working together we can more inclusively capture the diversity of Victoria’s deep history. We recognise our privileged position within the cultural heritage sphere and our responsibility in providing a platform to openly and honestly contemplate the impacts of colonisation and embrace opportunities for all Australians to understand and accept the wrongs of the past.
Our vision for reconciliation is a community that appreciates, conserves and celebrates our shared heritage, and embraces the diversity of contemporary Australia. We aspire to a more equitable society where the interpretation, presentation and management of Victoria’s cultural heritage is based on historical acceptance, truth-telling, and creating meaningful opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to shape the way we acknowledge and celebrate Victoria’s cultural past and present. We believe that it is vital to acknowledge the past, including aspects of our history which are painful and uncomfortable. In order to move forward, towards reconciliation, we must also expand our understanding of the past by acknowledging new perspectives, and recognising present injustices.
We cannot erase history, but we can tell the whole story.
Bunurong Cultural Ecology by Adam Magennis
This art piece is layered, representing a linear and stratigraphic culmination and snapshot of Bunurong Country.
Bunurong Country is the place our of ancestors. I have illustrated a map of our Bunurong landscape in the centre of the art piece.
Surrounding the Bunurong map of Country is an integration of the Bunurong universe containing the cultural ecology of Bunurong Country. This includes marine, coastal and terrestrial ecological habitats. Dreaming tracks flow through all the ecologies within the art piece and is an example how our ancestors connected and mapped our Country. Their spiritual presence is within the landscape and their physical presence is displayed in the archaeological places and sites that they have created.
The medium used to create art piece is soft pastel and chinagraph. I hope you enjoy this art piece showing Bunurong Country and our ancestors’ landscapes.
About the Artist
Adam Magennis is a Bunurong artist with a professional career in the arts that reached a 25 year milestone in 2020. Adam’s studio is based in Mornington where he produces finished
art pieces and operates his art consultancy business. He has regular commissions for public art installations and has created various murals and sculptural works for public asset projects. Adam is the Director of Kaptify Art Services, a Professional Art Consultancy and Victorian Indigenous Business
that is based in Mornington and operates throughout Victoria and in the Kulin Nation region area.
Adam’s work, Bunurong Cultural Ecology, was created to interpret Bunurong Country for the reinterpretation of Rippon Lea Estate.
Working with our Aboriginal Advisory Committee to the Board, we developed our second Reconciliation Action Plan. This RAP includes an Implementation Program that details the actions, set and reviewed annually, we will undertake to further the reconciliation process.
Our inaugural Reconciliation Action Plan was implemented in 2013. This RAP demonstrates strong commitment by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) to the reconciliation process through active engagement with Aboriginal peoples and the recognition, recording and interpretation of Aboriginal heritage.
