Road maintenance and incident response vehicles in the Hume region are getting striking new liveries thanks to a collaboration with Dhudhuroa artist, Jida Gulpilil.
North Eastern Maintenance Alliance, which delivers road works across Hume region for Regional Roads Victoria, commissioned the unique art to represent the local connection to country.
Kaiela Arts Educator, Rhonda Chrisanthou said the alliance reached out to local Aboriginal communities seeking a design that was “highly visible and highly creative” and Jida’s entry was chosen from four artists connected to the north-east region.
Jida’s eye-catching and symbolic designs will soon adorn about 50 road maintenance and incident response vehicles with reflective elements woven into the designs to ensure they’re safe at night, as well as eye-catching.
The symbols and designs identify natural and cultural features that thread across the landscape, connecting Jida’s people from one place to another during the north-east’s different seasons, while also acknowledges that some of the routes we use to maintain roads and roadsides today are along traditional Songlines.
“The artworks themselves represent our connection to country and understanding of country. The mountains, valleys, rivers, waterfalls,” he said.
“These are special places to our people and these are places that bring us together,” he said.
“It’s been an exciting project to be part of. What a great opportunity.”
Jida’s designs were turned into digital files by Abacus Visual in Melbourne before being transferred on to the vehicles.
