The Koorie Heritage Trust is proud to present “occupation studies: ngayanhurra bayarral Birrarung” (they tried to tame Birrarung), a new multichannel audiovisual artwork by artist Tahlia Palmer (Yuwaalaraay/Gamilaraay and mixed European descent), developed in collaboration with Jasper Cohen-Hunter (Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung).
Tahlia Palmer and Jasper Cohen-Hunter, Occupation Studies – They Tried to Tame Birrarung, video still, @ The Artists, Courtesy of the National Indigenous Times
Through immersive sound and moving image, Palmer and Cohen-Hunter interrogate the colonial occupation and regulation of the Birrarung (Yarra River), revealing how non-First Peoples altered a living waterway that had sustained Wurundjeri people for countless generations.
Tahlia Palmer and Jasper Cohen-Hunter, Occupation Studies – They Tried to Tame Birrarung, video still, @ The Artists, Courtesy of the National Indigenous Times
SOURCE: KHT