Barengi Gadjin Land Council - Indigenous Culture Finalist - 2026 Tidy Towns Awards
For one night at Horseshoe Bend in Dimboola, Country itself became the screen.
Our Place Our Story marked 20 years since Native Title recognition for the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagulk Nations, produced by the Barengi Gadjin Land Council with Pink Lake Creative, The Dreaming Project, The Little Projector Company and BGLC's Dalki Murrup Ceremonial Performance Group. Rather than mark the anniversary with a conventional event, the Wotjobaluk Nations community told their own story, on their own Country, through twelve projection experiences woven into the landscape: Elders' portraits, Dreaming patterns, possum skin cloak animation, talking trees and community interviews, alongside illuminated artwork by Wotjobaluk Nations artists. The evening capped a full day of cultural workshops, ceremony, cultural burning, a river walk and language sessions.
Presented on 13 December 2025, the project was built around a simple principle: cultural authority stays with community, and technology exists only to amplify that culture, never to become the story itself.
What the Land Council learned is that the process mattered as much as the night. The interviews, recordings and relationships built along the way now exist as cultural assets in their own right, ready to support future Wotjobaluk-led projects.
The X-factor: Native Title, 20 years on, presented not as history but as living, continuing connection to Country.
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