Events

Each year, we come together as a Faculty of Fine Arts and Music for Lighting the Wilin, a beloved annual event in our calendar which marks National Reconciliation Week and the anniversary of the founding of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Culture.

We invite all University of Melbourne students, staff, and our broader community to join us for this important event.

On the morning of 30 May, we’ll gather in the Wilin Garden to recommit to Reconciliation and to recognise the vital contribution that the Wilin Centre makes within the University, in an event led by Acting Dean Tiriki Onus, Head of the Wilin Centre.

This year, Lighting the Wilin coincides with the beginning of the 2023 Indigenous Mapping Workshop, which is bringing together 150 First Nations participants from all over the country to the Southbank campus.

After Lighting the Wilin, we invite you to join us in the Fiona and Sidney Myer Gallery to enjoy morning tea and the newly opened exhibitions:

Sand and Stars, featuring video and sculpture by Gail Mabo

Falmi Ngerrmewuritytye Pupunyi (The women made these mats) new fibre works from Durrmu Arts

Please arrive at the Wilin Garden by 8.30AM for the beginning of this event. If you are unable to make it to Lighting the Wilin, morning tea will be available from 9.15AM – 10.15AM at the gallery.

Please register for this event via Eventbrite so that we’ve got accurate numbers for catering.

More Info

Read more about Sand and Stars: https://finearts-music.unimelb.edu.au/events/fsmg/sand-and-stars

Read more about IMW23: https://www.indigenousmaps.com/2023imw-melbourne/

Later this year, Australians will vote in a referendum to decide whether to amend the Constitution to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The amendment would create a ‘Voice’ with authority to make ‘representations’ to the Parliament or Executive government on ‘matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’.

One of the persistent questions that has arisen in public debate is what role courts might play if the referendum is passed and a Voice is established. The third Conversation in the series organised by the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at Melbourne Law School will consider the potential role of the courts in relation to The Voice, seeking to place the courts’ role in broader constitutional, legal and political context. Matters to be considered include the potential role of the courts in relation to the The Voice itself, and in relation to representations made by The Voice to Parliament and government, and the potential for litigation.

Like other events in the Conversationsseries, the aim of this event is to draw on legal and other professional expertise to inform Australians about the proposal on which all of us will vote towards the end of the year. To this end, we will be joined by four leading experts in constitutional law, administrative law and Indigenous legal matters, drawn from practice and the academy:

• Professor Cheryl Saunders AO, Melbourne Law School
• Liz Bennett SC, List G Barristers, Victorian Bar
• Taryn Lee, General Manager, Social Impact and Policy, Collingwood Football Club
• Professor Jason Varuhas, Melbourne Law School