New Melbourne library opens and unveils suite of public artworks

New Melbourne library opens and unveils suite of public artworks

A suite of public artworks and commissions celebrating the richness of Kulin culture have been unveiled by the City of Melbourne at the City’s newest community hub in the historic Queen Victoria Market precinct, narrm ngarrgu Library and Family Services.

narrm ngarrgu opened to the public yesterday with the name being a Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung word meaning ‘Melbourne knowledge’.

The narrm ngarrgu library will operate over three levels totalling 3,000m2. The space will include:

A large 960m2 outdoor terrace, featuring native plantings, outdoor play area, an interactive eel trap tunnel and additional recreational areas

• A dedicated children’s library

• Quiet study and computer areas

• Reading rooms

• Makerspace, featuring state of the art creative technology including sewing machines, 3D printers, laser cutters and paint booths

• Sound studios for podcasting and recording

• Bookable meeting rooms and events space

• A collection of 30,000 new books, and additional digital items

narrm ngarrgu Library and Family Services is the first library to open in the City of Melbourne in nearly a decade – offering a suite of family health and wellbeing services, and a collection of more than 30,000 new books.

narrm ngarrgu is the first space of its kind dedicated to sharing the wisdom and voice of the Kulin people, and was designed to be a place of value and significance for the local community.

The Council collaborated with Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung elders, artists and community members to reflect their knowledge and lore in the curation of the narrm ngarrgu art program.

At the heart of the program is a series of culturally-significant immersive works by Aboriginal artist Maree Clarke, a Mutti Mutti, Yorta Yorta, Boon Wurrung and Wemba Wemba woman, which tell a First Nations story of the history of the site.

Created in collaboration with artist Hillary Jackman and designers and artisans from Artery Cooperative, the works take visitors on a journey into Kulin culture throughout the building, providing opportunities for reflection, learning, ceremony and play.

Clarke welcomes visitors to the space with a series of coloured lenticular prints representing the Kulin seasons, before inviting them to locate themselves ‘on Country’ – a gesture of inclusion – in the main library, with carpet design themed around ‘Walking on Country’ and featuring contour maps of the five Kulin nations.

The Children’s Library and passageway features carpet designed with native Wurrundjeri plants and animals, with colour coded artwork motifs to signify the Kulin seasons, and native landscape glazing.

On the rooftop terrace, Clarke’s works include a coolamon cast from a giant eucalyptus burl for smoking ceremonies, made in collaboration with Palawa man Nicholas Hovington, and a 6 metre-long eel trap playground artwork surrounded by cultural patterns and Kulin graphics in the playground soft fall area.

Clarke said she was incredibly proud of her commissioned artworks at narrm ngarrgu and shared “I wanted to create and integrate pieces that reflect the Kulin Nation culture and knowledge that have always been here – giving anyone who walks into the building a chance to connect in a playful and thoughtful way.   

"If people don't know about the five clans of the Kulin Nations, what better place to start learning than in narrm ngarrgu."

"I feel incredibly proud to have worked with my dream team – Lucy Foster, Hilary Jackman, Ellen Sayers and Jeph Neale. Jeph sadly passed away in January this year but helped create this vision for everyone to share and learn about our connection to country, culture, and place."

Continuing the Kulin story is a collection of over 70 contemporary artworks and heritage items displayed throughout the building that reflect the site’s layered history.

Curated by Dr Megan Evans – with support from Clarke as her long-time collaborator – the collection includes three new commissioned works by Wergaia/Wemba Wemba artist Kelly Koumalatsos and Ngarigu artist Peter Waples-Crowe, alongside existing works from the Council’s Art & Heritage Collection.

Koumalatsos’ Bubup Gurrk-Bap’s Coat – Baby Girl-Mum’s Coat/Cloak (2023) is a sculptural portrait representing the childhood of her mother, which sits at the entrance to the family gallery, while Waples-Crowe’s collages made of receipts from the Queen Victoria Market in the early 20th century (Underneath #1, 2023) reflects the power of the Country on which the building stands.

The collection also features works by influential Aboriginal artists Josh Muir, Kelly Koumalatsos, Leah King-Smith, Stephen Rhall, Hayley Millar Baker, Clinton Naina, Brian Martin, Naomi Hobson, Kent Morris, Blackgin (Georgia Macguire), Julie Gough, Lisa Waup and Sonja Hodge, as well as photography by Clarke of the 1990s NAIDOC protests in Melbourne.

Also on display is a series of glass condiment bottles and dishes from the early 1800s-early 1900s, discovered at the site during its redevelopment in 2018-19 and excavated with consent from Heritage Victoria, which further showcase the site’s historical significance.

Wrapping the exterior of the Munro building which houses narrm ngarrgu is artist Rose Nolan’s large-scale artwork Screen Works (ENOUGH-NOW/EVEN/MORE-SO) – an optimistic, complex and bold design presented as a series of connected words that reference the market’s role in social and economic exchange and conjure a sense of perseverance and forward-thinking.

Nolan’s work anchors the site and speaks to its transformation from a mercantile past to a place that considers and respects the influence of its Indigenous heritage. 

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said as the first public library to open in the City of Melbourne in nearly a decade, narrm ngarrgu marks an important milestone for Council and the community.

Lord Mayor Capp notes “with doors officially open, we welcome everyone inside to explore the remarkable collection of 30,000 items and celebrate our longstanding and important connection to Aboriginal art, heritage and knowledge.”

narrm ngarrgu Library and Family Services opened to the public at 10am on Friday 24th November and is hosting a Community Day on 25th November from 10am – 4pm.

Image. Giant eeltrap artwork, roof terrace playground by Maree Clarke, narrm ngarrgu Library and Family Services. Credit Lucy Foster; Image above: narrm ngarrgu Maree Clarke Credit: Lucy Foster