Baluk Arts is the only Aboriginal-owned and led art centre in southeast Victoria © Baluk Arts
Aboriginal Art from Victoria's Mornington Peninsula
Baluk Arts is an Aboriginal owned and led community art centre and gallery in Mount Eliza, on the Mornington Peninsula. It is the only Aboriginal art centre of its kind in southeast Victoria, and represents Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from Frankston, the Mornington Peninsula, and greater Melbourne.
The word Baluk, from the Bunurong and Boonwurrung languages, means "many" or "group of people" and also carries the sense of clan or extended family. (It can also be spelt balluk or balug.) Baluk Arts was created by a group of Aboriginal people as a way to share culture, re-learn culture, and pass it on in a supportive environment. Through the centre, family groups and members of the Stolen Generations have reconnected with culture, expressing their histories and stories through artistic practice.
Artists at Baluk work across painting, sculpture, weaving, wood carving, kelp works, printmaking, jewellery, photography, and textiles. Works explore identity, cultural heritage, and connection to Country in a contemporary context, and are shown in the gallery, at partner exhibitions, and at national and international art fairs including the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair.
Baluk Arts also undertakes collaborations, public art commissions, workshops, and murals, with projects often bringing artists together to create large-scale works for public institutions and wider audiences.
Lisa Waup is one of the centre's most recognised artists. A Gunditjmara and Torres Strait Islander woman, she has been a core member of Baluk since 2012 and has served as programs coordinator. Her multidisciplinary practice spans weaving, printmaking, sculpture, and jewellery, and draws on found objects, natural materials, and tapa cloth. Her work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria and the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, and she has been a finalist in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. Tallara Gray is another well-known Baluk artist, whose sculpture and weaving respond to the landscapes and ecology of the Peninsula.
Baluk Arts at a glance
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Location
5 Davies Avenue, Mount Eliza, Victoria. Gallery open Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 5pm. -
Language and Culture
Located on Bunurong and Boonwurrung Country. Represents Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from Frankston, the Mornington Peninsula, and greater southeast Melbourne. -
Art Style
Painting, sculpture, weaving, kelp works, wood carving, printmaking, jewellery, photography, and textiles. -
Cultural Significance
A reconnection hub for Stolen Generations and urban Aboriginal artists, and a leading voice for First Nations art from southeast Victoria. -
Notable Artists
Lisa Waup (Gunditjmara and Torres Strait Islander; NGV collection, NATSIA finalist) and Tallara Gray. -
Membership
Member of the Indigenous Art Code.
