First Nations artists will make defining artworks for Laak Boorndap, the 18,000 square metre garden taking shape in the heart of Melbourne as part of the Victorian Government’s transformation of the Melbourne Arts Precinct.
Wurundjeri artist, language worker, educator and researcher Brooke Wandin and Gunditjmara Keerray Woorroong artist Tarryn Love have been selected to deliver high-profile public art commissions that will reflect on the history of the site.
Laak Boorndap artist commissions – quick links
Laak Boorndap artist commissions
Katrina Sedgwick, Director and CEO of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation, said the precinct was looking forward to ‘working with Tarryn and Brooke over the coming years to deliver public artworks that celebrate the significance of Birrarung and its banks to First Peoples, while championing First Nations storytelling and culture for visitors from Australia and around the world’.
With water a central theme, Wandin will create an artwork centred around a water feature within Laak Boorndap. She explained that ‘the commission speaks to the importance of Birrarung to the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people as a lifeblood, a carrier of stories, and a place of significance’.
She added: ‘This commission invites others to join me to revere Birrarung as she sustains us all. Despite the skyscrapers and concrete, her ancient pulse is beating.’
Similarly, central to Love’s commission is finding connection. She explained: ‘I am honoured to create a work in conversation with this sacred river Country. It’s about intergenerational knowledge sharing and the strength of our survival. Always was, always will be.’
Love will create a gathering place that celebrates First Peoples as the first architects who built communal places for ceremony, storytelling and exchange.
It is envisaged that Laak Boorndap will feature a rotating display of sculptures by local and international artists from the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria and Arts Centre Melbourne, alongside the precinct’s permanent commissions.
The Laak Boorndap Public Art Commission involved a two-stage process closing in late 2024 for a 2028 installation. Shortlisted artists received $10,000 to develop concepts, followed by panel review, endorsement, and final commission for the new urban garden. It was exclusively targeted towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island artists.
Understanding the Laak Boorndap precinct design
Meaning beautiful place, the name Laak Boorndap was bestowed to the garden by Traditional Owner, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elder Aunty Gail Smith.
The garden sits between the cultural organisations of The Fox: NGV Contemporary, NGV International, Arts Centre Melbourne’s Hamer Hall and Theatres Building (under the Spire), along with the adjacent The Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre, and has been designed as a space for gathering together, for creative expression, dining and pause from the city pace – allowing a connection with nature and the history of this site.
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Melbourne studio HASSELL and New York’s SO-IL have created the precinct design in collaboration with internationally renowned horticulturalists Nigel Dunnett and James Hitchmough.
The team is working closely with plant expert Jac Semmler from Melbourne company Super Bloom to vegetate an elevated deck that will be both climate resilient and native to this environment.
It is expected to open to the public by 2028.
