Artist announced for Stolen Generations Marker

Published on 22 June 2021

Robert Young, a Gunnai and Waradjurie Aboriginal artist, has been commissioned to create a Stolen Generations Marker in Hume.

Mayor, Cr Joseph Haweil said he was proud to announce the successful commission of an artist for the Hume Stolen Generations Marker.

“Council looks forward to working with the Aboriginal community to promote this site as a place of welcome, truth-telling and mutual healing,” Cr Haweil said.

“Hume City Council is proud to join several other Councils who have created important public artworks marking the devastating history of enforced removal of Aboriginal children from their parents.”

The Hume Stolen Generations Marker will be an important site for the Aboriginal community across Victoria. The Marker will be a place for members of the Stolen Generations and their extended families, as well as the broader Aboriginal community.

It will also be a place for welcoming and educating the wider community about the truth of the colonisation of Australia.

Robert's artwork will feature a large metal possum skin cloak, mounted on a canoe shaped ground artwork, flanked by a seat shaped to resemble a traditional coolamon.

The marker will be located at the Wetland Site in Craigieburn, near the Malcolm Creek and Centennial Park Drive.

The Marker has evolved over several years and was triggered by a strong request from the Aboriginal community to create a place of welcome, meeting and memorial.

The Stolen Generations Marker project has been guided by a working group comprising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members and representatives from lead Stolen Generations organisations across Victoria (Linkup and Connecting Home).

The Stolen Generations Marker is expected to be completed in March 2022.