The Blak Infinite: Ellen van Neerven
Shoutlines & yaburuhma dugun (always sky), 2024
I had the privilege of working with artist Ellen van Neerven (Mununjali, Yugambeh and Dutch) to bring two of their commissioned texts to life for The Blak Infinite, part of the RISING festival at Fed Square in Melbourne. This collaboration allowed me to interpret Ellen’s powerful words through animation, transforming the Big Screen into a canvas for resilience, reflection, and vision.
Day: Shoutlines
From dawn till dusk, Shoutlines fills the screen with bold, declarative statements, a scrolling “newsfeed” that situates First Peoples as central to this land’s past and its future. Set against a dynamic backdrop, the animation emphasises Ellen van Neerven’s vision of post-apocalyptic resilience and unwavering presence.
Night: yaburuhma dugun (always sky)
At dusk, yaburuhma dugun (always sky) emerges as a contemplative tribute to the night sky — a “space library” rich with ancestral knowledge and cosmic teachings. This transition invites viewers to pause and reflect on a future informed by the celestial wisdom of First Peoples.
Co-curated by Kimberley Moulton (Yorta Yorta) and Kate ten Buuren (Taungurung), and presented by Fed Square and RISING, The Blak Infinite encourages audiences to pause, reflect, and imagine a more equitable future where First Peoples’ connections to the cosmos and the land are celebrated and acknowledged.
“To create and assert vibrant futures is a powerful and vital act of resilience and resistance.”
— Ellen van Neerven
Images supplied courtesy of Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation.
Photographer: James Henry