Project Manager and curatorial advisor: Lisa Warrener, Global Art Projects

Client: Mitchell, Murrindindi and Mansfield Shire Councils for Art on the Great Victorian Rail Trail

My name is Mick Harding. I am a Dhagungwurrung Gulinj (Taungurung Aboriginal Man). I belong to the Yowong-Illam-Baluk & Nattarak Baluk clans.

I have completed these artworks, while at the same time passing on cultural knowledge to my sons Mitchil and Corey.

We, the Taungurung people of this Biik (Country), have been removing the bark from trees to use for various purposes - such as baby carriers, food collection vessels, bark canoes and thatching for our dwellings - for at least 2000 generations.

These carvings symbolise our relationship to the Warring (Goulburn River) and its associated rivers, creeks and Ngarrak (Mountains).

These symbols we carve, have been used to articulate our relationship to our Ancestors and Country, as Kulin people for thousands of years.

Along the length of the Great Victorian Rail Trail (GVRT), we have removed the bark from healthy eucalypts, and then carved a message in the sapwood.

Each tree we have scarred has marks at the top that represent how our old people cut and scarred their bodies. This is how they demonstrated their relationships to one another.

Underneath these marks, are the designs that tell different aspects of our connection to our Biik and each other.

The bark we have removed will be used for different purposes. I will dry and mark the inside of the bark with different motifs to tell stories about our relationship to our Ancestors and Country.

For further information about this artwork and the artist, including videos and a location map, please see the Art on the Great Victorian Rail Trail website www.greatvictorianrailtrail.com.au/art/we-scar-many-trees

Website: www.ngargawarendj.com

Instagram: @ngargawarendj

The Great Victorian Rail Trail Art Installations Project was delivered by Mitchell, Murrindindi and Mansfield Shire Councils, with the support of Global Art Projects. The project was funded by the Victorian Government’s Regional Tourism Investment Fund.