Koorie Heritage Trust — Local services in Melbourne

The Koorie Heritage Trust was established in 1985 by Ron Merkel QC, the late Ron Castan AM QC and a respected Koorie elder.

The Trust emerged from a need for greater awareness, understanding and appreciation of Koorie culture throughout the community, and the immediate need for Koorie cultural heritage material to be controlled, managed and curated by Koorie people. Since then, the Trust’s activities and programmes have expanded to address a need in the community for the collection and preservation of Koorie oral histories for future generations; a family history service that connects members of the Stolen Generations and their descendants to family, culture and community; cultural education program and activities; and a retail outlet for the creative art and design expression of our Koorie community.

Originally housed at the Museum of Victoria, in 2003 the Koorie Heritage Trust took up residency at 295 King Street until our relocation to the Yarra Building at Federation Square in June 2015. A central replica scar tree that rose from the ground floor reaching almost to the second floor, provided a metaphorical anchor to the building. Cast from a latex mold of the original tree located on Ebenezer Mission Station, the replica tree was created c.1988 for “Koorie”, the Trust’s first major exhibition at Museum Victoria.

Over three levels, 295 King Street boasted exhibition spaces, a retail shop, library, education and general purpose meeting rooms and workshop areas, recording studios and performance spaces. The intention was to bring together “a rich Koorie presence through form, colour and social vibrancy: a Koorie heritage that is integral to the process of interconnecting with a past. … the design of the Cultural Centre sought to create an environment that maintained a Koorie cultural meaning but prioritised a living Koorie culture over the historical representations of Aboriginality” (Beth Charles 2006, The Koorie Heritage Trust’s Cultural Centre: Unmasking the ‘In Between’, PhD thesis, La Trobe University, Victoria).

The design of our spaces at Federation Square continue to pay tribute to our time at King Street. In designing our new spaces, Lyons Architecture working with Indigenous Architecture and Design Victoria (IADV), incorporated original design features from King Street into the fabric of our new spaces as memories of our past. These original design features include the original metal trees from the ground and first floor permanent exhibition space at King Street, the boomerang design decal on the entrance doors, and Bunjil the creator, which perched atop the replica scar tree. There were other design features of the King Street building that we were unable to bring with us including particularly the replica tree. As a memory of the tree, IADV’s Jefa Greenaway designed a table in the shape of a canoe referencing the scar.

In the King Street building, key spaces were also named after people who were a part of the history of the Trust, either an Elder or a highly respected supporter.

Some of the different galleries are

The Darren Pattie-Bux Gallery was originally located to the immediate right of the entrance on the ground floor at 295 King Street. Darren worked for the Koorie Heritage Trust between 1998 and 2000. He was a member of the curatorial team caring for the Trust’s collection of artworks and artefacts. He also made a name for himself as an artist, working mainly in wood. While working at the Trust, Darren participated in a Koorie arts course at RMIT where he discovered an interest in – and developed a talent for photography.

UNCLE STEWART MURRAY OAM REFERENCE LIBRARY - ncle Stewart, was a respected Elder of the Wemba Wemba people, who spent the majority of his life working in Aboriginal affairs. As a young man, he also enlisted with the AIF and fought for his country in New Guinea. Later he served in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore as...

This review is for the store next to the Heritage Trust.

Following on with my commitment to being “a tourist in my own town” I headed to #FederationSquare. After a few hours exploring through the labyrinth of installations, exhibitions and displays at #acmi I meandered up some stairs that popped me out at the east end of #FedSquare and into the storefront of the #kooriheritagetrust store. The skill and talent of the artisans is not to be under estimated. The majority of the work on display designed from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities with a strong focus on southern parts of Australia. The well curated pieces sold support the artists and designers directly. Grounded in a 60,000 year history it’s comforting to see this authentic work be honoured at Fed Square. Thank you to the lovely Dayna who multitasked by sharing her knowledge of the store and weaving her own creation. Highly recommend a visit to explore, discover, learn and appreciate our First Nations history.

#tripadvisor #tripadvisorreview #tripadvisorreviewer #googlelocalguide #googlelicalguides #letsguide #thewanderingreviewer @fed.square #shopkht #cityofmelbourne @cityofmelbourne #FedSquare @CityofMelbourne #IndigenousArt #AboriginalArt...

The Koorie Heritage Trust is an Indigenous not-for-profit cultural organisation based in Melbourne. It holds over 100,000 items in its collection from paintings and artefacts through to books, videos and photographs. It has "...a commitment to protect, preserve and promote the living culture of the Indigenous people of south-east Australia." The Koorie Heritage Trust also runs a variety of cultural educational programs and a Koorie family history service.

The Koorie Heritage Trust was established in 1985 when Uncle Jim Berg, Ron Castan, and Ron Merkel sued the University of Melbourne and the Museum of Victoria for the return of their collections of Indigenous cultural material. They wanted to ensure that the Indigenous community had access to their cultural heritage material.

The Koorie Heritage Trust is located in Federation Square,...