Where Art, Story & Country Meet – A Talk and Workshop Not To Be Missed!
Join Tiriki Onus and Marian Spires for art, poetry and storytelling in goranwarrabil (the Dandenong Ranges)
The final day of this year’s expanded Dandenong Ranges Literary Festival will feature two very special events presented by ngurrak barring.
Begin your Sunday morning with a compelling talk along the ngurrak barring arts and culture walking trail in Sherbooke Forest with Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung artist, academic and filmmaker Tiriki Onus.
Then, in the afternoon, join an ekphrastic writing workshop at the Belgrave Library with Hills-based poet and educator Marian Spires.
Choose one or both! Tickets will go on sale on August 28, following the full Festival program launch.
Read on for the full event details.
Writing ngurrak barring: Artist talk with Tiriki Onus
When: Sunday October 11, 10–11am
Where: Base of Pound Creek Track, Sherbrooke Forest
Cost: $16.50 Full / $11 Concession (plus booking fee)
Presented by ngurrak barring in partnership with the Dandenong Ranges Literary Festival.
Join Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung artist, academic and filmmaker Tiriki Onus as he discusses Thrivance: Then, Now, Next and Generational Guests, two works that weave together four generations of Onus family history, activism and creative expression in goranwarrabil (the Dandenong Ranges).
This is a unique opportunity to hear the powerful stories embedded in these works and learn about their significance as both a tribute to past activism and a statement of ongoing cultural resilience.
Both works were commissioned for ngurrak barring, an arts and culture walking trail through the towering forests and vibrant villages of goranwarrabil.
About Tiriki Onus
Tiriki Onus is a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung artist, academic, and filmmaker serving as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) at the University of Melbourne, where they also lead the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development and co-direct the Research Unit in Indigenous Arts and Culture. A multidisciplinary practitioner, their work spans visual arts, curatorship, performance, and opera.
In 2014, they were awarded the inaugural Hutchinson Indigenous Fellowship, supporting their work with communities to revitalise biganga (possum skin cloak) technologies. They co-directed the acclaimed documentary Ablaze (2021), which uncovers a historic film by their grandfather, Aboriginal rights leader William ‘Bill’ Onus. Their creative and research practice continues this legacy, including the installation Thrivance: Then, Now, Next (2025). Their PhD, Biganga – Mapping Paths Back to Knowing, was awarded in early 2025.
Tiriki’s work continues to foster innovation in research, development, advocacy, representation and inclusion of Indigenous arts, cultural practices and practitioners.
Writing ngurrak barring: Ekphrastic writing workshop with Marian Spires
When: Sunday October 11, 2–3:30pm
Where: Belgrave Library
Cost: $33 Full / $27.50 Concession (plus booking fee)
Presented by ngurrak barring in partnership with the Dandenong Ranges Literary Festival.
Drawing from artworks featured in ngurrak barring, Hills-based poet and educator Marian Spires will guide you in the art of ekphrastic poetry, a form of writing that responds to artworks.
This workshop will suit writers of all levels and no previous experience is required.
Marian’s ekphrastic poem, Tom Roberts, appears alongside other site-specific poetry featured in Writing ngurrak barring, a collection of written and recorded works that respond to goranwarrabil (the Dandenong Ranges).
About Marian Spires
Marian Spires is a poet, writer and teacher whose award-winning work engages with the internal landscapes of personal and cultural myths.
She has performed her poetry on radio, television, at festivals and poetry events, and her work has been published widely. Major works include her poetry collections red angels rising (Woorilla Press) and Knowing Vincent (Picaro Press).
Marian has taught ekphrastic poetry across the country to writers of all ages.
Writing ngurrak barring
Writing ngurrak barring is a collection of works that responds to goranwarrabil (the Dandenong Ranges). Each one reminds us that places are formed as much from stories — written, told, coded and sung — as from rock, soil and plants.
For millennia, goranwarrabil has been storied by the Traditional Owners and Custodians, the Wurundjeri people.
Writing ngurrak barring brings together works by Wurundjeri and other First Nations artists as a testament to their ongoing connection to Country. It also includes works by non-Indigenous writers with a connection to this place, speaking to the presence of newer stories that have coexisted or been contested here since colonisation.
Writing ngurrak barring is curated by Lia Hills, an award-winning poet, novelist and translator whose work has been published, translated and performed around the world.
Major works include her poetry collection the possibility of flight and her novels The Crying Place and The Desert Knows Her Name, which has been optioned for screen.
Lia was co-editor of Balit Bagurrk: Strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women of the Yarra Ranges. She lives and works on Wurundjeri Country.
ARTWORK IMAGE:
Tiriki Onus, Lin Onus, Bill Onus with Jenna Lee and Jamie Ferguson
Thrivance: Then, Now, Next 2025
Photo: Jesse Graham
The Festival program is released on August 27.
Tickets for all events will go on sale on August 28.
We can’t wait to see you all on October 11 for a talk and workshop to remember.
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