Terrace Projection: Collective Movements - Pitcha Makin Fellas, Why Don't Whitefellas Like Trees?

This thought-provoking artwork is created by Pitcha Makin Fellas, a First Nations collective hailing from Ballarat on Wadawurrung Country. This work was created by Gimuy Walubarra Yidinji woman Trudy Edgeley; Dja Dja Wurrung, Gunditjmara and Yorta Yorta woman Alison McRae; and Gunditjmara man Ted Laxton.

Driven by their passion for culture and community, the Pitcha Makin Fellas express their pride through their art. 'Why Don’t Whitefellas Like Trees?' draws inspiration from the enduring care for Country by the Djab Wurrung people and their ongoing efforts to halt the destruction of numerous trees for road widening-works near Ararat, Victoria. The Fellas are dedicated to safeguarding the magnificent trees that grace landscapes throughout Australia.

'Why Don’t Whitefellas Like Trees?', Pitcha Makin Fellas is a Monash University Museum of Art / NETS Victoria touring project. This project emerges from the touring exhibition Collective Movements, co-curated by Taungurung artist and curator Kate ten Buuren; Lardil and Yangkaal artist and curator Maya Hodge; and N’Arweet Professor Carolyn Briggs AM PhD; with support from Bundjalung, Muruwari and Kamilaroi artist and senior academic, Professor Brian Martin, Director of the Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous Research Lab, Monash University.

This project has been supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, as well as receiving development assistance from NETS Victoria’s Exhibition Development Fund, supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria

NETS Victoria
NETS Victoria is the peak body for visual art, craft and design touring in Victoria, and the state’s only full-service visual arts touring organisation. NETS Victoria take a hands-on approach to supporting and showcasing the work of Australian curators, artists, arts workers and arts organisations, connecting them with one another and fostering collaboration through the provision of curatorial, financial and capacity building support. Their targeted exhibition and professional development programs reflect and celebrate the diversity of the sector, with a focus on public galleries, regional audiences and removing barriers so more people can take part in the arts.

Collective Movements
Collective Movements is a wide-ranging project focusing on the work of historic and contemporary First Nations creative practitioners and community groups from across Victoria that recognises collectivity as integral to Indigenous knowledges and ways of being. An exhibition, publishing project, conversation and workshop platform, the project begins with the desire to make more visible a language and terminology beyond Western art concepts of ‘collaboration’ and ‘collectivism’—one that better describes and acknowledges the way Indigenous creatives work within a broader community and its inheritances. Collective Movements is co-curated by Taungurung artist and curator Kate ten Buuren; Lardil and Yangkaal artist and curator Maya Hodge; and N'Arweet Professor Carolyn Briggs AM PhD; with support from Bundjalung, Muruwari and Kamilaroi artist and senior academic, Professor Brian Martin, Director of the Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous Research Lab.

Terrace Projections
Through the Australian Government's RISE Fund, Castlemaine Art Museum presents Terrace Projections, a program of exhibitions, installations and events for the community. Using the medium of light, CAM is bringing contemporary images and ideas to the streets of Castlemaine in a new series of commissions with local and national artists. Screening every evening from sunset.

Public Programs
Free public programs, including a conversation event, will be presented in the gallery throughout this exhibition. All details will be shared on our website. Click here to subscribe to our mailing list to receive special updates and invitations.