This is Wadawurrung Country

We acknowledge the Wadawurrung People as the Traditional Owners of the land, waters, seas and skies of Collendina, Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads, 13th Beach and Breamlea. We honour and say Nyatne (thank you) to Elders past, present and future whose ancestors, for thousands of years, have cared for this part of Dja (Country).

We are committed as an organisation to meaningfully work together with Traditional Owners to make Wadawurrung Culture and Country strong.

Warri (salt water)

Artist Billy-Jay (BJ) O’Toole a proud Wadawurrung man, has created ‘Warri’, a canvas artwork that explains and celebrates in art the relationship between Barwon Coast and the Wadawurrung People.

Barwon Coast’s vision is to care for Country respectfully, preserving the coast for people to connect with, understand, and protect whilst enjoying the unique natural environment. ‘Warri’ celebrates Barwon Coast’s work towards this vision, and our commitment to caring for the coast in partnership with the Wadawurrung People.  

‘Warri’ is on display at our administration office in Barwon Heads. Elements of the artwork and the stories it shares will also be seen across the coast through signage, education programs, murals and social media. This weaving of Wadawurrung Culture into our work is a strong symbol of our respect and ongoing commitment to keeping Culture and Country strong.

Many thanks to BJ O’Toole (Papul Art)Warri artist, 2022.

Artist's Description

At the bottom of the artwork are sand dunes. The sand dunes hold thousands of years of history of Wadawurrung people.

The area Barwon Coast manages consists of many waters, from freshwater to Saltwater. The coastal waters are represented with bottle nose dolphins, sharks and whales included to symbolise some of the largest species that live there. The freshwater is where buniya the eels and fish live. These were also a food source for thousands of generations of Wadawurrung people.

The meeting place shown here is the Barwon Coast Office.  The coloured dots represent the colours of the soil sands that underlie that area.