Introducing Sentient: RMIT’s new Indigenous design

Introducing Sentient: RMIT’s new Indigenous design

RMIT has launched its latest Indigenous brand artwork, Sentient.

Sentient was created by artist Hollie Johnson, a Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo woman from Gippsland who graduated from RMIT with a Bachelor of Arts (Photography) in 2016. 

Hollie was the winner of a competition run by the Ngarara Willim Centre and the RMIT Brand Team to design RMIT’s new Indigenous design, which features across the University website, in print publications, through templates and in merchandise available from the Campus Store.

RMIT’s Indigenous brand is a visual embodiment of our connection to our Indigenous history and programs.

The Indigenous brand design competition gives Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students and Deadly Alumni the opportunity to creatively express what this connection looks like while also representing the culture, history, and values of our Indigenous communities. 

Through this art we acknowledge the contribution and significance of our Indigenous culture and its connection to RMIT.

Hollie Johnson and her new artwork for RMIT, Sentient.

About Sentient 

Within Hollie’s family and the Nations she belongs to, line work is prominent and widely featured in many artworks with lines intersecting showing the journeys of life starting, finishing and intersecting.  

In the Gunaikurnai Nation, Hollie grew up knowing that diamonds and triangles symbolise men, while circles and semicircles represent women. This symbolism is depicted in the design, where the arrangement and colouring of these shapes connect them to their Ancestors who gave birth to them. The sequence of colours— Black, Red, Red, Black—represents this ancestral link.  

The colouring of the line work illustrates the evolution of nature: from the sun, the giver of life (yellow), to the creation of land (green) through many First Nations Creation Stories, and finally to the sea (blue) that surrounds this beautiful Country.  

Some lines intertwine, symbolising the interconnected paths of life; some are short, others endless, depicting the varied journeys individuals undertake. Some paths may intersect, while others may never touch, highlighting the diversity of life’s experiences. This is also a representation of RMIT and the experience within our community, culture and pathways. 

Hollie’s art is an integral part of the University's brand and represents our strong sense of community, place and identity.

 

11 December 2024

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11 December 2024

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Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

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