Tiriki Onus, Lin Onus, Bill Onus with Jenna Lee and Jamie Ferguson

Thrivance: Then, Now, Next 2025

digital printed artwork, acrylic paint, water-based 2 pack top coat, industrial etch primer, aluminium plate, hot dipped galvanised steel, Castlemaine sandstone

Thrivance: Then, Now, Next is a collaborative work by Tiriki Onus, a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung artist, academic and maker; Jenna Lee, a Larrakia, Wardaman and Karajarri contemporary artist and graphic designer with mixed Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and Anglo-Australian ancestry; and Jamie Ferguson (Aeroplane Workshop) who has 25 years’ experience working in the interactive and interpretive exhibition environment.

This powerful, site-responsive installation weaves together four generations of family history, activism, and creative expression that have taken place here in goranwarrabil (the Dandenong Ranges). Central to the installation are a series of sculptural signposts, each embodying a significant theme—Aboriginal Enterprises, land rights, cultural knowledge (like boomerang-throwing), ecological connections (flora, fauna, water), and Aboriginal identity. The final pole, left intentionally blank, symbolises an unwritten future, inviting reflection and a sense of possibility as well as acknowledging the next generation of the Onus family.

Drawing from the Onus family archive, Thrivance: Then, Now, Next pays homage to the legacy of William ‘Bill’ Onus, a trailblazing Yorta Yorta activist and artist who founded Aboriginal Enterprises in Belgrave (only a few hundred metres from the site). This vibrant business was not only a highly successful tourist destination, it also became an important and influential cultural and political hub, supporting many artists and activists who came to work there during the 1950s and ‘60s.

The installation also celebrates the life and artistic evolution of Lin Onus, whose pioneering fusion of Aboriginal and European artistic traditions addressed both political and aesthetic themes. The work also references Lin’s organisation of the first ever forced land rights claim in February 1971, which took place nearby in the Sherbrooke Forest.

In his audio recording Generational Guests, 2023 (commissioned as part of Writing ngurrak barring), Tiriki outlines his role in continuing this legacy:

I have the great honour in this space of being a custodian for the stories of my family, my family’s stories here on this Country, which is not ours. Yet, through the love and the diplomacy that have been shown to us by those who speak for this place, we’ve managed to contribute our stories here and the stories of my family and my community, are not just those of resilience or strength, they’re not stories of survival, they are stories of thrivance. I feel quite humbled to be part of this story.

In this light, Thrivance: Then, Now, Next represents both a tribute to past activism and a statement of ongoing cultural resilience, blending archival materials and diverse art forms with contemporary storytelling.

Tiriki Onus

Tiriki Onus, is a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung artist, academic and maker.

Jenna Lee

Jenna Lee is a Gulumerridjin (Larrakia), Wardaman and KarraJarri contemporary artist and graphic designer with mixed Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and Anglo-Australian ancestry.

Jamie Ferguson

Jamie Ferguson (Aeroplane Workshop) has 25 years’ experience working in the interactive and interpretive exhibition environment.