Hidden Waters of the Birrarung

The river never left.

Take a walk with Petrichor Collaborative to explore how our urban infrastructure, seasonal flooding, and forgotten wetlands remain part of the Birrarung’s living memory.

Uncover the often-overlooked signs of the river’s presence on a walk through the Parkville campus with a collective of landscape architecture researchers and practitioners connected to ongoing University of Melbourne research into urban ecologies and waterways.

Your guides, University of Melbourne Plant Science student and cultural storyteller Jakobi Ili-Jakobi (Djab Wurrung and Dhauwurd Wurrung), cultural educator and trainee ranger Jack George (Wurundjeri, Dja Dja Wurrung, Palawa) and landscape architect Harrison Baxter will draw your attention to old river red gums, eels moving through stormwater systems and native species persisting in urban landscapes – traces that continue to tell the story of Country. The walks tune into the seasonality of the land and reveal how waterways, Indigenous knowledges and city remain deeply entangled.

The guided walk is followed by a shared hands-on activity led by creative practitioner Maria Bulmaga, opening space for conversation and creation. Together, discuss ideas about how the Birrarung is valued today and how more caring approaches might protect the river’s health and cultural significance into the future.

Petrichor Collaborative are a landscape architecture and research practice focused on driving and promoting opportunities for First Nations-led processes, intrinsically tied to place and ecosystems. They invite you to return for an evening gathering to share reflections and view artworks created across the earlier sessions, offering a moment to pause, connect and consider how the Birrarung continues to shape the city.

Sessions:

• Walk Thursday 5 March, 11am–1pm 

• Walk Thursday 16 April, 11am–1pm 

• NEW: Walk Thursday 23 April, 11am–1pm 

• Reflection Thursday 30 April, 5.30–6.30pm 

Please wear sun protection and clothes and shoes suitable for walking.

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MPavilion Parkville is the University of Melbourne’s open-air space for art, ideas and experimentation. Learn more.