Troy Firebrace: reconciliation through art and conversation
Kate Spencer, development partner at FORWARD — The RMIT Centre for Future Skills and Workforce Transformation — writing with director Peter Thomas and development partners Pete Cohen, Jane Howie, Sally McNamara and Inder Singh about the recent art commission by Aboriginal artist Troy Firebrace for the FORWARD at RMIT City Campus, Melbourne.
“I want you to walk away with the idea that you are not just looking at a pretty picture, you are walking away with a connection to culture, to land and to what we call home. It’s important to understand Aboriginal culture isn’t just something that’s at the surface, what you are looking at, is something further, something deeper. And the question I want you to explore is, what is your response to these artworks? What is the story that you are going to take away? And how is that going to embed within your own life and journey from this point onwards?”
— Troy Firebrace
On the wall of a nondescript room — formerly a computer lab — in RMIT’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct on the south side of Carlton, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne located on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, sits an artwork that shows a set of concentric circles on a background of red and orange that resembles leaves. Towards the canvas's edges are flowing shapes containing what look like the rings of felled trees.
This is ‘Paperbark’ by Troy Firebrace.
Troy says about this work:
“Paperbark talks to the history of what was torn out of Australia, and what was torn out of Aboriginal communities. It’s important to understand that in history, Aboriginal culture has been violently changed, through colonization, through laws being passed down through Parliament. Aboriginal people weren’t at those tables during those decisions, such as the child protection laws or the Aboriginal protection laws, which resulted in the Stolen Generations. This work also talks about how we need to place importance on Aboriginal people at those tables. Paperbark in a sense was the old way of painting. You would paint on paperbark in a sacred way, and whatever was on it was a sacred document. Aboriginal communities would place their policies and document the direction of the community and where we want the community go on paperbark.”
The artwork is extraordinary, and ‘Paperbark’ — sitting alongside a series of other works by Troy — was commissioned as part of the Reconciliation and Place project for FORWARD, the RMIT Centre for Future Skills and Workforce Transformation, part of RMIT’s College of Vocational Education.
It seems unusual and incongruous to see a work like ‘Paperbark’ in this setting.
The room is a workspace — and a workspace in a building that, downstairs, houses the Advanced Manufacturing Precinct’s multi-axis CNC machines that machine high-performance alloys and composites for engineering applications.
This juxtaposition of opposites is what we intended. Our brief to Troy was simple: transform the space.
“As an artist, I have never been given that word before. Those are dangerous words. This project very much gave me the freedom and the license to really explore who I am as an artist. Those projects are always the best projects to be a part of.”
White walls, overshadowed by a ceiling matrix of industrial air conditioning ducts, have been transformed by colour, organic shapes and form, and the space has been infused with Country and story.
Yet the transformation goes much deeper than replacing white walls with colour.
Within each artwork is an invitation to share and learn, and in doing so, it forms part of our reconciliation journey at FORWARD. As a team, we are continuing to learn through working with Troy on this project and being surrounded by his artworks.
You can watch our film about this project here
Explorations of Country, explorations of self
Troy Firebrace is a proud Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung man with a passion for sharing knowledge and championing unity and reconciliation. With each brushstroke, each conversation and each viewing of his work, he invites us on a journey to connect with Country, culture and each other.
Born in 1992 in Shepparton, Troy’s identity and his art practice is strongly influenced by his culture, his family and his experiences growing up on the banks of the Dungala (Murray river) or Kaiela (Goulburn River).
“I live and breathe as an Aboriginal man, so my way of living and being with Country sways on my art practice, especially around exploring concepts using modern materials. My style is usually bright and vibrant but still has the grounding of culture.”
Encouraged by his art teacher, Troy began exploring his Aboriginal identity through art at high school. He combined his passion for skateboarding to create skateboards with Aboriginal designs for this Year 12 art project.
“I picked up art as a year 12 subject, and I really started to explore my culture, and my identity as an artist. And from that point on, I started to really collaborate with my family, my knowledge of Country, exploring that further and asking questions. Essentially it was a lot of self discovery, a lot of conversations with aunties and uncles in the community.”
After Troy moved to Bendigo, he continued to explore his identity as an artist through his studies. “I came into Latrobe University with the knowledge of who I am as an Aboriginal man and as a person of culture. The question I had was: how do I develop an Aboriginal art style that’s unique to me?”
Through this journey, Troy has developed a unique style and is constantly evolving his practice. He draws inspiration from modern and contemporary art, and his approach weaves traditional methodologies and stories from his culture, with his connection to Country and his identity as a contemporary Aboriginal man.
“What motivates me to make my art is exploring different ways to produce an artwork that’s connected to Country. My aspiration as an artist is to really explore how far can I take this. Can I push my practice to create a whole new style, a whole new outlook of what is considered Aboriginal art? I feel as an Aboriginal artist it is where you can discover new ways and new journeys to represent not only your culture, but you’re taking the same methodology steps that you would have taken 1000s of years ago, and creating a whole new story.”
The art of conversation and sharing knowledge to enact change
Alongside his practice as a professional artist and managing his business Firebrace Designs, Troy also works as an Aboriginal Education Officer for the Catholic Education Sandhurst. He works with 57 Catholic schools across northern Victoria to ensure that Aboriginal education is delivered in a diverse, dynamic and culturally safe way.
Yet while that might be Troy’s ‘day job’, the principles of education and sharing knowledge to enact change are intertwined in every aspect of Troy's life and work.
“The good thing about being an Aboriginal artist is that the more you start practicing, the more you start knowing about culture. If your aspiration is to share that knowledge, there’s two ways you’re going to do it. One through your artwork, or direct — from artist to client, from artist to audience, from artist to students. And so within my business, I dive into both. During the day, I’m an educator. And at night, I’m an artist, and they go hand in hand.”
Troy sees each interaction with a potential client as an opportunity to share knowledge and understanding of his culture to advance reconciliation in Australia, even if it means rejecting a potential commission.
“There have been opportunities I have turned down because the aspirations of the artwork request didn’t align with what I believe in. In those moments, I try to help the client understand why. Because at the end of the day, either that client is going to ask me, or they will ask someone else. My ambition is to ensure that the integrity of the Aboriginal arts industry is upheld, and that people, whether they are organizations, companies or individuals, ask the appropriate questions and go through that journey with an artist in a culturally safe way.”
Biyala
‘Biyala’, meaning red gum in Yorta Yorta, shows that within these walls and within the busy rhythms of the city, we are always on Country. Geometric shapes are overlaid with natural forms and organic shapes of the red gum roots along the Murray River, reminding and inviting us to connect with and care for Country wherever we are.
“‘Biyala’ is a call for us to be like the red gum, to ground yourself within the Earth itself. Because when we do that, not only do we stabilise our life, but we also stabilise the environment itself.”
Flood Plains
‘Flood Plains’ is inspired by the regenerative and naturally occurring flooding along the Murray River. Flood embodies deep knowledge about how places are transformed and activated between the seasons, providing nutrients to the plants, animals and communities along its path. It highlights the importance of working with Aboriginal communities and drawing on cultural knowledge to manage the health of our rivers.
“This painting is about how we need to sit with Aboriginal communities, with Aboriginal people, especially when it comes to those important decisions around Country and the health of Country. We need to find ways to embed cultural practice and knowledge into our policies and procedures when we are looking after Country.”
The Deep
‘The Deep’ challenges our perceptions and first impressions of others and makes a stand against racism. Beyond the pearlescent veil, as if looking through the clouds, lies a shimmering network of golden patterns and shapes connected by the flowing lines of a river.
“This artwork really does talk to racism — making sure that we are not placing our views on other people, and that we are not acting upon biased views. It talks about looking beyond the surface and valuing what’s underneath. Hence why the artwork is painted in a way that allows you to get this sense that you’re looking through this veil, but underneath is something special, something plated in gold, and something that flows within all our veins — the lifeline of Country which is essentially that river waterway that you see.”
Paperbark
‘Paperbark’ calls for greater representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices at the table in government policy making and throughout leadership and within organisations, in order to build authentic relationships and seek unity.
The work is inspired by the Yirrkala bark petition presented to the House of Representatives in the Australian Parliament in 1963. Signed by 12 clan leaders from the Yolngu region, located in north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, it was the first formal assertion of Indigenous native title.
At the centre or the artwork is a circle, showing unity and many voices coming together. Beyond is a constellation of stars representing ancestors in the sky, guiding Aboriginal people in decision making for their communities.
“Paperbark talks to the history of what was torn out of Australia, and what was torn out of Aboriginal communities. It’s important to understand that in history, Aboriginal culture has been violently changed, through colonization, through laws being passed down through Parliament. Aboriginal people weren’t at those tables during those decisions, such as the child protection laws or the Aboriginal protection laws, which resulted in the Stolen Generations.
This work also talks about how we need to place importance on Aboriginal people at those tables. Paperbark in a sense was the old way of painting. You would paint on paperbark in a sacred way, and whatever was on it was a sacred document. Aboriginal communities would place their policies and document the direction of the community and where we want the community go on paperbark.
This artwork talks about community come together, so at the end of those meetings, or the end of the writing those policies and procedures, that history won’t repeat itself. But a new history will be formed — one that is more robust, more diverse, and more culturally safe — underneath the guidance of history, and the guidance of our ancestors and their elders past. It’s through their strength and resilience that laid the foundation of our learnings today has been laid. Let’s take that and honor it by placing it onto the paperback.”
Unity
Inspired by Troy’s experience working in the Catholic Education sector, this artwork is a celebration of unity and acceptance of one another, regardless of creed, religion, or culture. The colours and shapes are reminiscent of stain glass windows, but Troy has embedded his own experience finding acceptance to practice his own culture in a respectful way within the Catholic education system.
“Unity talks about the unity of two cultures. It’s a testament to the work that we do within education, but also a testament to what the Catholic Church had to go through themselves, to change and be more inclusive, to celebrate and respect other cultures.”
So what have we achieved? And what might this project achieve in the future?
One thing is to explore the boundaries of hybrid work and our reconfigured relationship to place. With Troy’s art, we have recast our physical space as part of our team’s, and our organisation’s, reconciliation journey and not just an ‘office space’ or ‘work space’.
But workspace it is: alongside Troy’s art sit two 85" Microsoft Surface Hubs used for hybrid meetings and interacting with collaborative Miro and Notion workspaces. Next to Troy’s artworks are links to an extensive media archive of the artist at work and talking about the work, all connected thematically to our projects and the bigger context in which our organisation sits. It’s not clear whether this is an art gallery or an office.
Like Troy, we want the space to spark conversations and support others on their reconciliation journey — to ask questions, to reflect, to connect and to change the way they see Aboriginal culture — because only then can we transform ourselves and make genuine steps towards reconciliation in Australia. As Troy says:
“I want people to see Aboriginal culture with the same importance that myself and the rest of my family community see it. That’s the importance of Country and how it is important for us to look after Country. Whether that’s in Aboriginal education, or how we utilize education in schools. And in particular, our nans, mums, dads, cousins, nieces and nephews, the importance of their future, their legacy, their aspirations, as well as their ancestors. How we uphold them with the most honour. I want that to be a familiar feeling to be found through our community, regardless if you’re indigenous or non-Indigenous.”
In truth, we don’t know what this will achieve.
But, we and those who visit us — in real or virtual modes — will be prompted, we hope, to reflect more deeply on reconciliation as an everyday lived experience and one that is integrated into the new world of work.
The Reconciliation and Place project was co-designed and curated by Peter Thomas, Director of FORWARD, and Kate Spencer, an award-winning creative director and strategist who has delivered innovative projects in Melbourne, Sydney, Malaysia, Mexico and Canada.
FORWARD is the RMIT Centre for Future Skills and Workforce Transformation.
Our role is to build an innovative learning ecosystem at scale, create new collaborative applied research and invent next-generation skills solutions that will catalyse workforce development in the future-oriented industries crucial to Victoria’s economic renewal.
We lead collaborative applied research on future skills and workforce transformation from within RMIT’s College of Vocational Education, building and scaling the evidence and practice base to support Victorian workforce planning and delivery and acting as a test lab for future skills to develop and pilot new approaches to skills training and education through digital transformation and pedagogical innovation.
We leverage RMIT’s multi-sector advantage to translate research insights into identifying workforce requirements and the co-design of practice-based approaches with industry.
Contact us at forward@rmit.edu.au
