You can’t really miss Ballarat’s gold rush heritage – it’s visible throughout its heritage streetscapes.
But richer cultures and deeper stories thrived here for over 1,000 generations before the first prospectors arrived.
Today, the cultures of the Wadawurrung, the Dja Dja Wurrung and the many other diverse First Nations peoples who now call the Ballarat region home are being celebrated and embraced locally and across the world.
A wonderful example of First Peoples’ enduring culture can be seen in the work of artist Tammy Gilson, a traditional weaver and proud Wadawurrung woman.
Through her weaving, Tammy seeks to empower and embody cultural resilience, while creating and sustaining Wadawurrung culture.
Tammy runs a traditional weaving workshop at the Centre for Rare Arts and Forgotten Trades, where she teaches participants how to weave string bags (known as ‘ballang’) using jute and plant fibre collected from across Wadawurrung Country.
Tammy’s workshop provides an opportunity for people from all walks of life to connect with Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung Country, and the deep history and crafts of First Peoples.
The half-day workshop is a satisfying and reflective experience, with each participant able to personalise their ballang with adornments such as possum fur, gum nuts and shells.
The workshop runs once a month and needs to be booked in advance.
Continuity of First Peoples’ culture is as much about reimagining as it is about reverence for tradition or the past.
Arguably, no one embodied this spirit of cultural evolution more than the late Josh Muir, a celebrated Gunditjmara, Yorta Yorta and Barkindji artist from Ballarat.
His vibrant, contemporary works are a powerful fusion of traditional stories and modern expression which contributed to a bold new vision for Indigenous Australian art.
Though he passed away suddenly at the age of 30 in 2022, his artistic legacy lives on.
His thought-provoking and uplifting works reflect themes central to his life and community, including cultural identity, the impacts and legacies of colonisation, mental health, addiction, personal loss, and grief.
Embracing both the traditional and contemporary First Peoples art scene is Perridak Arts, an Aboriginal community-owned and operated business in the heart of Ballarat’s CBD.
Established in 2023, this unique gallery serves not only as a space for showcasing local First Peoples artists and craftspeople, but also as a therapeutic program, supporting artists in strengthening culture through their creative talents.
Visitors stepping inside are greeted by the relaxing sounds and smells of “being on Country”, where a variety of art forms invite them to engage deeply with First Peoples’ cultures.
Perridak Arts is more than an art gallery; it’s a cultural experience that connects people to place, to Wadawurrung Country and to the incredible diversity of First Peoples artists that have come to call Ballarat home.
The gallery is open every day except Sunday and is well worth a visit.
The value of creative activity to First Peoples is important – culturally, socially and economically – but equally significant are creation stories and oral traditions.
While not solely focused on First Peoples, AURA at Sovereign Hill offers a stunning and memorable immersive experience that weaves together the Wadawurrung creation story with the dramatic impacts of colonisation.
This 90-minute show uses powerful projections to portray the transformation of the region, highlighting the richness of First Peoples’ culture and the profound disruption caused by the discovery of gold.
Running after dark year-round, AURA provides a world-class introduction to the events that shaped modern-day Ballarat from both a Wadawurrung and more recent gold rush perspective.
Ballarat has experienced dramatic change over the centuries, but many ancient landscapes that hold deep significance for First Peoples remain blissfully unspoiled and can be enjoyed by all.
From Mount Buninyong (the spiritual home of the Keyeet Balug clan) to Lal Lal Falls (where Bunjil, the spirit creator of the Wadawurrung People, made his final resting place before ascending to the heavens) to the Yarrowee River, these landscapes hold many stories and are as beautiful as they are restorative.
They are well worth exploring, whether by hike, bike or scenic drive.
For the First Peoples of the Ballarat region, their song lines are deeply embedded in the land.
The tracks of their creation ancestors are etched into the rocks and sky, while the mountains, rivers and waterfalls that surround us play central roles in their stories.
Despite the upheavals of colonisation, First Peoples continue to inspire through both new and age-old traditional art forms and story-sharing experiences.
By celebrating and learning about First Peoples creation stories, art practice, protocols and local cultural authority, we invest in a shared future that is rich and innovative and provides exciting opportunities for all.
