Drop the tools and listen: learning how to create content on Country
What we made, and who we collaborated with
The Video and Media team collaborated with Marketing Manager Jenni Austin and Associate Professor Juliana Kaya Prpic from the Faculty of Engineering and IT.
The footage they captured over a weekend at Budj Bim was edited by the FEIT marketing team and the final video contributed to the Excellence in Indigenous Engagement award that the Budj Bim community and Kaya’s team received from Universities Australia in 2023.
Visiting one of the largest and oldest aquaculture networks in the world
Located in the south-west of Victoria, Australia, Budj Bim tells the story of how the Gunditjmara people observed and engineered their natural environment for thousands of years.
There, they established an extensive and long-lived aquaculture system that allowed the regular diversion, harvesting and storing of the kooyang, or the Short Finned Eel.
Today, members of the community actively maintain their connections to their Country.
Connecting at Budj Bim
Teaching in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Melbourne, Associate Professor Juliana Kaya Prpic, known to many as Kaya, is driven to explore Indigenous knowledge systems alongside the western knowledge.
With collaborative principles in mind, she initially co-designed the Melbourne School of Engineering undergraduate course Indigenous Engineering and Design with Gunditjmara man Damein Bell, and the Gunditjmirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.
A big part of their collaborative vision was to provide students with cultural context and offer them tangible projects that they could engage in.
Building trust with the students
Kaya describes the first year she took some students to visit the community at the Lake Condah Mission;
"We drove around the Budj Bim UNESCO Cultural Heritage Landscape where the Gunditjmara Elders and Rangers shared their rich cultural knowledge of the 7,000 year old aquaculture system. It was just a wonderful experience."
"Then, at the end of that, as the students were getting back on the bus, Damein said to me, 'Oh, that was fantastic, I'm impressed with how interested and enthusiastic the students were.'
I felt in that moment there was a quantum leap in trust, and I've come to appreciate the emergent nature of building trust and experience."
Inviting content creators to visit
Since that first visit, members of the Gunditjmara community have continued to lead projects and share knowledge with Kaya and her students. When the Budj Bim On-Country Learning and Research program was nominated for an Engagement Australia award in 2023, Kaya was asked to provide a video to illustrate the partnership.
She sought out some support from Jenni Austin, the marketing manager for her faculty. Jenni reached out to the Video and Media team, with whom she had an existing working relationship, and content creators Ian Yorski and Paris Jarvis-Barker jumped at the opportunity to take a small crew to help capture footage that could be used for a video and other marketing collateral.
The art of not going in with cameras blazing
"When a film crew is engaged to document an event, they usually rock up, unpack their gear and start shooting," said Paris. "We are the outsiders looking in."
This time it was different. On arrival at Budj Bim, the Video and Media crew participated in a sharing circle where everyone stated their intentions for the weekend, and then asked and were granted permission before filming the Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony.
"Respect and relationship building was at the forefront of our minds. We made sure to meet everyone, let them know our intentions, what we’d like to film and why, and made sure people were okay with that."
Embracing the 'emergent experience'
Taking into consideration Kaya’s idea of the emergent experience, the team also knew there would be an ever-shifting schedule over the weekend, and were prepared for that.
They came with a flexible mindset and a minimal portable kit to capture the essence of a weekend at Budj Bim without intruding on the goings on.
"We didn’t interrupt conversations and didn’t mic people up, and as a result we were able to catch some great moments: walking and talking on Country, Gunditjmara Elders yarning around the fire," said Ian.
"With the practical informing the creative, we ended up filming so much more."
Uncle Johnny Lovett's advice to the students
"Be Open. Open your mind up and have a listen."
"It’s listening time," confirmed Aunty Denise Lovett.
"And look at things differently," Uncle Johnny added. "There’s different shades of green here."
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