Wathaurong celebrates opening of Booln Booln Cultural Centre

THE Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative this week celebrated the highly anticipated launch of its Booln Booln Cultural Centre, after six months of refurbishment works at the Surf Coast Highway site.

A large crowd gathered at the centre on Monday to mark the site’s return to Community hands with a smoking ceremony and dance performance.

An eastern grey kangaroo and black wallaby kept watch over the proceedings, with the kangaroo eventually joining the outer edge of the crowd.

Formerly run by the Uniting Church Australia under the name Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre, the centre closed its doors to the public in June last year, after the Co-op successfully acquired the Grovedale site.

“This has been a dream of our community for the last 30 odd years,” Wathaurong chief executive Simon Flagg said.

“This centre was created 28 years ago by the Uniting Church, but really the concept and ideas of this place was created by our community. They wanted a space where we could practice culture, connect and share it with the broader community.”

While the Co-op provides a large range of social services, he said programs to support and grow the Wadawurrung community’s cultural needs were lacking.

“So, 28 years later, we’re extremely proud to finally take this over and have it in our hands and create a bright future for our community,” Mr Flagg said.

In Wadawurrung language Booln Booln refers to the lyrebird, the speaker of all languages, and was intentionally chosen as a symbol for the cultural centre where all are welcome and that aims to “speak to everybody”.

“For us, the centre is not only a space for us to communicate, communicate as a community who come from all different walks and different mobs, but it’s also a space for the non-Aboriginal community to come together,” Flagg said.

The Booln Booln Cultural Centre will continue to reopen in stages, with announcements expected shortly on the reopening of the centre’s café.

The centre will also feature a stronger focus on local artists, with the gift shop carrying pieces created locally and an exhibition area to host artist showcases, while a variety of cultural awareness programs for people of all ages will begin in the coming months.