Ganagan (Deep Water)
Waterways in Koorie Life and Art

Ganagan is a Taungurung word meaning ‘deep water’. Ganagan encourages visitors to see Victorian waters through Koorie eyes.

Koorie people have an ancient and ongoing connection to the rivers, lakes, and coastal areas of south-eastern Australia. Ganagan showcases sculptures that re-interpret traditional fishing items, as well as paintings and sculptures that reflect on the importance of waterways to Koorie people.

Artworks from Koorie Heritage Trust, along with recordings and quotes from Koorie Elders and artists, tell rich and surprising stories about how waterways have provided Koorie people with sustenance, identity, transport, danger, escape, connection, solace and inspiration, for more than 40 000 years. Creation stories relate how waterways were formed and how Birrarung, the Yarra River, was filled with the tears of two frightened young boys. Waterways mapped on kangaroo skins reflect contemporary connections with Koorie identity.

Treasures on show from the Koorie Heritage Trust’s collections include canoes, eel traps, fishing spears, paintings, photos and oral histories.

Sponsored by Melbourne Water, the exhibition invites visitors to experience Melbourne’s creeks, rivers, and coastal areas in new ways, and to learn from Koorie traditions of caring for waterways for future generations.