National Reconciliation Week Mural

By Alinta Koehrer. Wurundjeri / Yorta -Yorta

Curator: Authority Creative Location: Gunpowder Walk mural (seasonal artwork on display with rotating art) Photographer: Piers Fitton

This is the story of three women.

Grandmother. Mother. Daughter.

In Aboriginal Culture, our songlines and ways of life are passed down over thousands of generations through the family line. This story represents the relationship between each generation and that sacred knowledge shared.

Grandmother sits in the night sky surrounded by the Ancestors; her journey tracks have given her wisdom and experience that she shares with her daughter and granddaughter. This is represented by the bright twinkling stars in sky country. Aboriginal people believe the stars are the campfires of the Ancestors and family who have passed into the Dreaming. These stars tell of creation stories and guide us with mapping and inform us of when seasons are changing amongst other things.

Mother sits in the middle of the sky. Her connection to sky country and its sacred stories are represented by her long flowing hair and billowy clouds. Just as she is a part of the land and waterways of country, she is connected to the stars and moon and the ancestors in the Dreaming. She holds the songs of her mother close, and the knowledge passed down to her.

Daughter’s journey begins from the coolamon as a baby and young child. As she grows, she seeks knowledge from her mother and grandmother and listens to their voices as they sing in the wind. They sing of ceremony and language and the old ways that have been passed down. Stars in her hair represent these traditional old ways and the rich culture which has been passed down to her. The stars are small for now, but in time they will grow with her and the more knowledge she learns. 

Alinta Koehrer is a Woi-Wurrung Wurundjeri and Yorta-Yorta Traditional Owner through her mother and grandmother. Alinta is a Melbourne based Studio Arts graduate and an up-and-coming fine artist and emerging First Nations fashion designer. She has worked with mixred media and large-scale canvas design and is developing her own unique style in Aboriginal art. Alinta has a real talent for creating thought provoking pieces of cultural story telling through visionary and innovative couture design.