In February 2024, several large limbs of the Guildford Big Tree (BIYAL) — around 25 tonnes' worth — broke off and fell. This was a significant and emotional event for the local Dja Dja Wurrung community, Elders and nearby locals. As word spread, people came in the following days to spend time with the tree and reflect.

BIYAL is the community's response to that moment — a creative coming together of Dja Dja Wurrung, First Nations, local voices, and cultural knowledge holders. Working with timber salvaged from the fallen limbs, artists, artisans and storytellers have drawn on the tree's long life to create works of art, artefact and story.

Acting quickly after the fall, DJAARA's Malamiya (Cultural Heritage) and Galk-galk Dhelkunya (to care for, to heal, many trees) teams secured the timber and moved it to safety, holding it until Elders and community could determine the right path forward. Guided by Uncle Rick Nelson, craftsman Pete McCurley carved one fallen limb into a Reconciliation Seat — its placement a ceremonial first step in honouring the tree, and the beginning of the BIYAL exhibition that follows.

The Guildford Biyal project exists to honour this tree and all it carries: connection, healing, and the chance for truth-telling — a way of letting Country tell its own story, through the tree and through the people bound to it.

The Dja Dja Wurrung Group thanks Djaara and Dja Dja Wurrung Group staff for the time, knowledge and guidance given to protect the spirit of the Guildford Biyal, along with Pete McCurley and Djaara Timbers, Dumawul, Nalderun, Mt Alexander Shire Council, Regional Arts Victoria, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), Castlemaine Art Museum and the National Indigenous Australian Agency (NIAA).

Curated by Uncle Rick Nelson, Kerry Douglas, Hape Kiddle, Dan Mitchell and the Big Tree Project Team.

"Local people came out in tears when they heard the big bang of the branch hitting the ground as birds flew out of the hollow. Possums came out. Bees were in there too. It's a habitat tree for lots of animals. And not only that, it's got a cultural marker. We call it a ring tree, a grafted tree. This is a signpost for us. It means there's something special nearby, could be a burial area, a ceremony area.  Something special nearby."

— Uncle Rick Nelson