Berrbang wayi balit - Connection makes Us Strong
Moonee Valley City Council's Stolen Generations Marker Commission


Moonee Valley City Council invites First Nations artists (individuals or in teams), who have a connection to Victoria, to submit an Expression of Interest for the development of a permanent Stolen Generations Marker in Moonee Valley.

Support is available to emerging artists who have not completed submissions for similar public art projects before. Please feel free to contact us ignitingcreativity@mvcc.vic.gov.au to discuss with Council staff or a community member from our Stolen Generations Marker Working Group.

Background
Moonee Valley City Council is committed to working with the community to acknowledge and address the pain, suffering and ongoing impact of colonisation and racism experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The Stolen Generations Marker is significant initiative of Council’s Bagarru Bagarru Djerring (Shoulder to Shoulder Together) Reconciliation Plan and Policy 2022-2025. The plan states an intention to work in partnership with Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elders to design and install a permanent Stolen Generations Marker in Moonee Valley to acknowledge and respect Stolen Generations.

Stolen Generations Marker Working Group
In 2024, Moonee Valley City Council commenced appointment of a Stolen Generations Marker Working Group. This group includes survivors and family members of the Stolen Generations, representatives of organisations working to support Stolen Generation individuals in Victoria; Elders from the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, First People who live locally, and suitably qualified Moonee Valley City Council staff.

Council is grateful to be working with the Stolen Generations Marker Project Working Group. We want the Marker to be designed, located and used in an ongoing manner in accordance with the wishes of the Stolen Generations.

Message from the Stolen Generations Marker Working Group
"We are pleased to be working with Moonee Valley City Council to install a Marker that will honour the Stolen Generations. The Stolen Generations includes all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly removed from their families and communities through race-based policies implemented by State and Federal Governments. These children were denied their identity, family, traditional culture and country. The policies, enforced between 1910 and the 1970s, have caused profound, lasting and intergenerational trauma

The Stolen Generations Marker will acknowledge the harm caused to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities across the nation. It will serve as a reminder about the terrible injustice caused by successive governments and the ongoing impact felt by families and individuals to this day.

The Marker is also an acknowledgement of the generations of resistance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, parents, families and communities whose resilience ensured their identity and culture continues to thrive and survive today. Berrbang wayi balit - Connection makes Us Strong."

Project scope
The Stolen Generations Marker artwork may take a variety of forms. First Nations Artists (or teams) are encouraged to respond to the characteristics of the site and to consider large-scale, as well as intimate works, and a broad range of potential materials, landscaping and approaches. As a baseline for consultation, however, the Stolen Generations Marker Working Group has proposed the following creative suggestions for artists (or teams) to consider. The Marker must:

• Reflect the stories of all Stolen Generations.
• Be respectful of Victorian Aboriginal cultures.
• Be a place of healing.
• Contribute to a family friendly, welcoming place which provides a sense of connection for those who visit the space.
• Provide the community an opportunity to welcome one another, share and reflect.
• Be prominent enough to create interest so that people will want to visit and learn about the Stolen Generations.
• Respond to the natural environment

Stolen Generations Marker location
Napier Park is full of natural character. It is an example of pre- European woodland with some significant flora. This includes River Red Gums that pre-date colonisation and feature large hollows that can take more than a century to develop. Many are protected under the Significant Tree Register.

Napier Park has a good understory of native shrubs, grasses and wildflowers. The trees and bush conceal parts of the park from the road, but the sound of traffic is sometimes audible. There is a playground in the northwest corner.

The park was ‘gifted’ to the City of Essendon in 1920 by Theodore Napier. The deed of gift required that the land be retained in its natural condition and free of development. For this reason, the design of the Marker will be sympathetic to the environment.

The precise location of the Marker within the park will be decided in consultation with the artist, the Stolen Generations Marker Working Group, and community stakeholder, the Friends of Napier Park.

For further information, contact ignitingcreativity@mvcc.vic.gov.au for the Artist Brief package.

To express your interest, complete and submit the form below.