The Ancient Yarra River with Bunjil's eggs

This sculpture was inspired by Carolyn Briggs’s story (Elder of the Boon Wurrung) ‘the time of chaos’. It depicts the ancient Yarra River, where it originally flowed 10,000 years ago and six eggs. The eggs represent the six traditional groups of the Boon Wurrung people.

The design references late Pleistocene channels in Port Phillip Bay. Sub-bottom seismic profiling has outlined a system of river channels, which now lie buried beneath the bay floor in the centre of Port Phillip Bay. The channels are continuations of the present day Yarra and Werribee Rivers. The rivers depicted flow over and through the cluster of six eggs, which loosely depicts Boon Wurrung ‘country’.

The sculpture is encompassed in the shape of Bungil’s eye, which represents his ever watchful gaze. This installation is oriented geographically to how Port Phillip Bay is today.

Sculpture by Glenn Romanis, 2008, Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection

Location: Red Bluff Cliffs, Beach Road, Black Rock (Melway ref: Map 85 H1)

Materials used:  Limestone, basalt, Castlemaine slate and green limestone slate.

Page last updated: 10 Dec 2010