The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Foundation is proud to be working with a number of talented Indigenous artists for Me and UooUoo: The RCH150 Anniversary Art Trail. Commencing in January 2021, 100 UooUoo sculptures, all uniquely designed by Australian artists, will be dotted throughout Melbourne and Geelong, forming a spectacular art trail while raising funds for sick children at the RCH.
Bebe Backhouse, a proud Bardi man and Director of the RCH150 program at the RCH Foundation believes Me and UooUoo is an opportunity for the community to engage with Aboriginal culture and art while celebrating the hospital.
“Me and UooUoo offers a unique art experience and expressions of creativity from all artists involved, including our Indigenous Australian artists,” said Bebe.
“I am extremely proud to see the work of our artists and can’t wait to see the community’s reactions when they land on the streets of Melbourne and Geelong in 2021.
“Our state has persevered together through challenging times this year. The RCH Foundation is excited and energised to bring this project to life to rediscover and bring the true Victorian spirit back into the streets of our cities,” said Bebe.
Learn more about the Me and UooUoo Indigenous artists Josh Muir, Vandal, Greg Matthews, Associate Professor Wayne Quilliam, Melanie Hava, and Sharlee Dunolly-Lee:
Josh Muir is a Yorta Yorta and Gunditjmara man from Ballarat, draws on the visual language of Indigenous culture to create vibrantly coloured digital prints, while also paying homage to hip-hop and street art.
Vandal is a proud Wiradjuri mixed media artist. In 2019 she become one of eight Victorian artists to have her artwork displayed on a Melbourne Art Tram, has produced award-winning skateboard art, and her own distinctive colouring book range inspired by her Aboriginal heritage. She is known for her use of colour and whimsical art.
Associate Professor Wayne Quilliam is one of Australia’s pre-eminent Indigenous photographic artists, curators and cultural advisors working on the international scene. Wayne is the winner of the Aboriginal Artist of the Year, Human Rights Media Award and a Walkley Award. He has created and curated over 300 exhibitions throughout the world and been published in more than 1000 magazines, books and newspapers.
Greg Matthews is a descendant of Tasmania’s Manegin People. Having developed his own unique contemporary Aboriginal art style, his work is displayed in Melbourne and Hobart galleries, and in commercial premises in both Sydney and Melbourne.
Melanie Hava was born into interesting and diverse cultures. Her father comes from the oldest city in Austria, Enns, and her mother is from one of the oldest cultures on earth, Aboriginal people of Australia. While celebrating her Austrian heritage, Melanie also identifies through her mother’s line as a Mamu Aboriginal woman, from the North Johnstone River catchment in Far North Queensland and the adjoining Great Barrier Reef sea country. Melanie’s work is influenced by her diverse cultures and by her experiences in the outback, rainforest and reef.
Sharlee Dunolly-Lee is an emerging Dja Dja Wurrung artist in her early stages of applying cultural knowledge to the canvas. In 2019, Sharlee explored her identity in an art portfolio revolved around understanding and developing her cultural identity which formed her own artistic style and contemporary vision of Aboriginal culture.
