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High Capacity Metro Trains – Indigenous artwork artist interview transcript

We invited Victorian First Peoples artists and collectives to design an artwork for the outside of one of the first of our big, new High Capacity Metro Trains. The winning design, ‘Wurundjeri Biik (Wurundjeri Country)’ by Wurundjeri woman Mandy Nicholson, explores the Wurundjeri culture’s connection to Country and our shared journey. https://www.youtube.com/embed//MiumkepJlWM

Length: 01:43

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On-screen text: Interview with Wurundjeri woman and artist Mandy Nicholson

Mandy Nicholson: My mob’s the Wurundjeri people, the traditional custodians of Narrm, and I’m also connected to the Dja Dja Wurrung and Ngurai Illum Wurrung language groups of Victoria.

On-screen text: Mandy Nicholson. Wurundjeri woman, Artist. Traditional Owner of Narrm (Melbourne)

Mandy Nicholson: My career as an artist has started since I was a young girl. I really loved watching my older sister do artworks and drawings all over the place, so she’s my first inspiration. I can’t believe that my artwork is on such a large, moving object because I’ve done artwork in murals and things like that, but to see it actually on a train travelling through all the different types of Country that are connected to the artwork is really exciting.

Mandy Nicholson: So each of the layers of Country I’ve applied to each of the carriages. So some designs [are] related to water [and] represent rain. Other layers represent the roots of plants going into the ground, so ‘Biik-ut’, or ‘Below Country’. On Country, we’ve got tracks and pathways that we’ve journeyed along over the many years—not just us, but our ancestors and [older] people. It just really relates to every different element in its own little way.

Mandy Nicholson: What I hope people feel and see when they see the train is that First Nations cultures, especially Wurundjeri culture, Victorian urban culture, is alive, well, dynamic, and strong and still present. By learning the narrative of place, the narrative of the different layers of Country, and the narrative of us, it’ll help them understand that we are the first culture of this place but we’re so willing to share that with everyone around us to make it relevant for everyone.

On-screen text: More information: www.transport.vic.gov.au/biggertrains

On-screen text: Evolution Rail logo and Victorian State Government, Department of Transport and Planning logo

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Transport

Updated 18 June 2024

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