ABSTRACT Indigenous public artworks in Australian urban spaces have challenged assumptions of Indigenous absence from the city. This paper examines the construction of Birrarung Wilam, in central Melbourne, in the period 2005–2008. We use archival documents and semi-structured interviews to analyse the collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants in a project sponsored by the city. We show the particular mediating contribution of ‘fabricators’: a group of commissioned workers and tradespeople with material-specific expertise. Person to person encounters occurred through the modules of project management, with limited scope for long-term engagement. Despite being embedded in formal state-based recognition, Birrarung Wilam asserts Indigenous self-recognition through the renewal and adaptation of Indigenous material practices and traditions and the refusal to provide straightforward interpretive materials at the site. The study provides support for arguments that challenge a simple binary of co-option and resistance in interpreting such public art practice.

中文翻译：

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组装 Birrarung Wilam：城市土著公共艺术品的案例研究

摘要澳大利亚城市空间中的土著公共艺术作品挑战了土著不在城市的假设。本文考察了 2005 年至 2008 年期间墨尔本市中心的 Birrarung Wilam 的建设情况。我们使用档案文件和半结构化访谈来分析原住民和非原住民参与者在城市赞助的项目中的合作。我们展示了“制造商”的特殊中介贡献：一群具有特定材料专业知识的委托工人和商人。人与人之间的接触是通过项目管理模块发生的，长期参与的范围有限。尽管嵌入了正式的基于状态的识别中，Birrarung Wilam 通过更新和适应土著材料实践和传统以及拒绝在现场提供直接的解释材料来主张土著人的自我认可。该研究为在解释此类公共艺术实践时挑战共同选择和抵抗的简单二元论的论点提供了支持。