The practice of First Nations Craft on the Goldfields RESEARCH COMMISSION – REQUEST FOR QUOTE CITY OF BALLARAT The City of Ballarat is commissioning a desktop and interview research project into the craft and folk art traditions of the Dja Dja Wurrung and Wadawurrung people of the Kulin nation, Victoria, with specific focus on understanding the practices behind the creation of functional tools, vessels and materials, and tracing how these skills and knowledge continue to influence contemporary craft practice. The intention is to publish this work in relevant academic journals, and for the City of Ballarat to make the information available to stakeholders and interest groups. This material will in turn feed future strategic direction for the application of Ballarat’s UNESCO Creative City designation. 1. Introduction Ballarat is home to 107,000 diverse peoples, each contributing their own culture, ideas and aspirations to the city’s identity. The city of Ballarat extends across parts of the traditional country of the Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung peoples who have lived here for tens of thousands of years and remain connected to these landscapes today. Ballarat’s urban form was quickly established during the mid-19th century global gold rushes and includes distinctive settlement patterns and a significant number of historic buildings, public art, historic collections, gardens and public places. It is home to the oldest continuously operating performance theatre in Australia and largest art gallery collection in regional Australia and the 5th largest gallery in the nation. The city has been recognised for its strong community of creative industries and practitioners. Ballarat was designated as a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art in 2019, and one of the major areas of focus was determined to be the investigation, assessment and documentation of the skills of local indigenous communities with a view to supporting the development of sustainable practice of artists, makers and producers in the region. Although making of tools, vessels and materials were a crucial part of Dja Dja Wurrung and Wadawurrung culture and society for more than 50,000 years, colonisation of the lands has directly resulted in a loss of knowledge, skills and experience and with it the practices that were essential. Restoration of lost knowledge or sharing, promoting and re-interpreting traditional skills are imperative in order to help support a living culture. Additionally, tracing the path of traditional skills into influencing contemporary practice is considered a vital way of not only keeping the practices alive but also assisting in the livelihood and practice of living artists and makers. This research is being implemented in order to help deliver against the obligations of the city under the Creative City Strategy, signed into action in May 2019 with an intent to develop the sustainable practice of individual practitioners and creative industry. This research also represents the first key steps in delivering against the Creative City goal of ensuring that indigenous programming is represented in at least 30% of our creative and cultural events. 2. Zone to be studied Location of this study is determined by family / clan groups of the Dja Dja Wurrung and Wadawurrung within the Kulin nation. The items, practices and skills to be examined and considered for this study are essential and functional in nature and are not to include items which are spiritual or connected to men’s or women’s business. FIRST NATIONS CRAFT RESEARCH PROGRAM – CITY OF BALLARAT – RFQ 1 | Page 3. Participation This research program, although developed and initiated by the City of Ballarat, must be driven by indigenous communities. The stories we are intending to document belong to First Nations peoples. Working together with Wadawurrung traditional owner Bonnie Chew of Mirriyiu Consulting, the City of Ballarat is compiling the boundaries of the research program and is seeking a research body to respond. 4. Advice and support A consultation group of representative bodies is to be established called the UNESCO Consultation Group and will include representation from such groups as: - Dja Dja Wurrung traditional owners / organisations - Wadawurrung traditional owners / organisations - City of Ballarat, Aboriginal Cultural Liaison Officer - UNESCO High Commission, Australia - Koorie Engagement Action Group, Ballarat - Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative - Creative Victoria - Federation University - Public Records Office Victoria - Museums Victoria Members of these organisations will be sitting on the selection panel for this RFQ. In addition, we expect their services and knowledge to be available as required. 5. Current research boundaries 5.1. Traditional Craft Practices The research is to document the different types of functional items which were crafted or traded by the Dja Dja Wurrung and the Wadawurrung people. We seek to provide context and documentation of each item, explaining what each item was made for and how the item was made. Stone – - Blades and spear types - Grinding stone - Axe grinding grooves - Fire stones o Quartz / quarzite / silcrete / trakerlite / greenstone / granite Soil and ochre - clay balls / cooking - clay pipes - clay figures Weaving - Basketry - Vessels - Traps - Jewellery Wood FIRST NATIONS CRAFT RESEARCH PROGRAM – CITY OF BALLARAT – RFQ 2 | Page - Saps - Branches - Spears - Shields - Vessels / coolamons - Rope making - Totem pole making - Digging sticks Skins and animal byproducts - Skins - Quills - Bones - Sinew - Shell - Human hair - Feathers - Fats 5.2. Contemporary Craft Practice and its influence The research must examine the connection between traditional practices, and how they can be traced into the practice of contemporary First Nations artists. We are interested in tracing the practice of Dja Dja Wurrung, Wadawurrung artists and makers, but also seek to track the practice of First Nations groups who make these lands their home. The City of Ballarat wishes to understand the degree that traditional practices play a role in today’s contemporary art practices. 6. Data Collection It is expected that the investigation into traditional craft practices will be primarily desktop, concentrating upon source materials such as newspapers, journals and diaries which reference and document craft practices. We would also expect reference journals and other papers to be included as secondary level reference materials. The analysis of contemporary craft practice will require a degree of personal interview, telephone and survey work. We are not anticipating any group work. Any interview or data collection must adhere to the Privacy Act and conform with the requirements of the International Code on Market and Social Research. Contact records are expected to be maintained, and all participants advised on their rights under the Privacy Act. Staff engaged to undertake this part of the research must be qualified researchers or academics and have relevant cultural awareness training qualifications. It is anticipated that First Nations people are leading or form a majority of the research team. The City of Ballarat anticipates that the investigation into contemporary craft practice will focus solely on First Nations practitioners. Interviews and discussions can be oral, but we would recommend that these are recorded with the support of the interviewee. We would request that representation from the City of Ballarat or the Community Consultation Group is present at interviews where appropriate. The City of Ballarat requests to review and approve the content of any research questionnaire, and these will be assessed by our Aboriginal Liaison Officer. We expect that the applicants to this RFQ will provide additional recommendations on their research approach FIRST NATIONS CRAFT RESEARCH PROGRAM – CITY OF BALLARAT – RFQ 3 | Page 7. Outcomes The City of Ballarat is seeking the development, drafting and compilation of a research paper to be completed by 30 September 2021. The paper must conform to an approved research protocol including: - Project title - Project summary - Project description: o Rationale o Objectives o Methodology o Data management and analysis - Ethical considerations - References This paper must be drafted to publishable standard, with recommendations for submission to appropriate journals. It is anticipated that the City of Ballarat will be submitting this paper to the UNESCO Creative City International Journal of Crafts and Folk Arts, Korea. There remains opportunity to transform the content into a more accessible book production which will be made publicly available. The development of this book is considered a secondary element to this project and is not included within the budget for this program. 8. Submission to journals The successful research team will be asked to supply a list of recommended journals for submission as part of their engagement. The research team will be asked to submit the final paper to these journals with the support and agreement of the City of Ballarat, with advice from our Consultation Group. The successful research team will be responsible for the arrangement of possible publication of some, or all of the findings. As such the research team will be responsible for arrangements concerning copyright of materials mentioned in the study. 9. Intellectual property Where a third party holds copyright in the research materials, the City of Ballarat acknowledges that the copyright will be retained with that party. The