The Few of us will leave a legacy as deeply profound as John & Ros Moriarty. Through blending Indigenous & European sensibilities in their design work, they not only helped create the visual expression of ‘Brand Australia’—but have also shown a possible roadmap for the future – a country of many peoples. GSM takes a look…
For over 35 years the contribution to ‘visual Australia’ by John, Ros and the Balarinji team has been ground-breaking, to say the least. Both in exposing and celebrating the cultural heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to Australia and the world. John Moriarty (1938– ) was born in Borroloola (Northern Territory, Australia) to a mother from the Yanyuwa people and an Irish father. Like many indigenous children of his generation, the State took him from his mother at the age of four. He became Ward of the State. This was part of the then Governments’ infamous assimilation policies, referred to today as The Stolen Generation. It took 26 years for John, then aged 30, to reunite with family, culture and country.
A Meeting of Talents
For the first decades of his career, John worked as a public servant. He held several executive positions in Federal and State Departments of Aboriginal Affairs, focussing on advocacy for Aboriginal equality, reconciliation and cultural engagement. It was through working in Canberra in the late 70s that John met Ros. Ros Moriarty (1956– ) was born and raised in Tasmania. She describes her childhood immersion in the lakes and mountains of the region as ‘the sense many Australians have about connection to the land’.
Balarinji is born
By the early 80s, the Moriarty family were living in Melbourne. During this period, John drew a series of turtle images. Ros then screen printed them onto a doona cover for their first son. This modest project quickly led to the creation of a full range of printed fabrics. And so, in 1983, the Balarinji design label launched at a high-profile event hosted by The Wool Corporation.
Giving Design an Australian Identity
This work by Balarinji, along with similar work by community-centred groups TIWI Designs (Bathurst Island) and Desert Designs (Western Australia), are pivotal moments in Australian visual history. Contextually, the predominant visual expression of Australia had, up until this point, been almost exclusively European. This drew heavily from colonial ties to Britain and, more recently, the United States. These ground-breaking Aboriginal artists produced work that challenged this perspective. Giving rise to the notion that Australia has a cultural uniqueness to be celebrated as part of its overall identity.
Balarinji Grows
Inspired by ‘cultural’ studios overseas, such as Marimekko (Finland) and Shanghai Tang (Hong Kong)—the Balarinji studio grew. The co-labbing of indigenous and non-indigenous artists and designers facilitated this growth. It also lead to notable projects for high profile firms such as Budget Rent-a-Car and Sheridan (homewares). Balarinji fabrics soon began appearing as leisurewear, ties, umbrellas and even Japanese kimonos. Such was the international interest that licensing agreements were negotiated in Japan, France and elsewhere.
Taking Aboriginal Art to the Skies
1993 proved to be another pivotal year. John and Ros approached Qantas with the idea of carrying Aboriginal art around the world. The idea was to include Aboriginal art as part of their aircraft branding. Again, this was a bold move. As Ros explains, ‘Aboriginal art was scarcely used in any corporate setting, let alone on a 700 square metre canvas that would fly above millions of people each day … It was a very successful commercial venture as well as a philosophical statement about being Australian.’. The first aircraft to carry Aboriginal art was Wunala (Kangaroo) Dreaming which referenced stories of John Moriarty’s Yanyuwa people.
Balarinji Expands
In 1997 John and Ros relocated Balarinji to Sydney. They wanted to establish a more sustainable business. In Sydney, the client list expanded to include many prominent names, These included the Sydney Opera House, Nestlé, ICC Cricket World Cup, IBM, Renault France, Coca Cola Atlanta, Bank of America, British Airways, Mitsubishi and many others. In addition, the studio has produced work for some major events. For example, the Reconciliation Australia Sydney Harbour Bridge Walk, the opening of the Sydney Olympics Stadium and uniform fabrics for the 2016 Rio Paralympics team.
As their profile grew, the Moriarty’s developed a design methodology. They focussed on bringing together Aboriginal practitioners and communities for authentic storytelling, interpretation and a legacy of place. Thus ensuring Aboriginal sensibility within the work. Today, the Balarinji team still delivers this methodology to assist clients. Their projects are of a diverse range extending well beyond visual communication. This includes major infrastructure works such as the Sydney Metro, Pacific Highway, Macquarie Bank’s redevelopment at Martin Place (Sydney) and Burwood Brickworks (Melbourne).
A Selection of Work by Balarinji
Cricket World Cup
The 2015 Cricket World Cup tournament was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. This presented unique opportunities when it came to the branding. Global agency FutureBrand drove this process. In turn they approached Balarinji studio to create the logotype and associated graphics. The result harmoniously brings together the distinct art forms of two Indigenous cultures. The organic flowing Aboriginal graphics represent the spirit of the land and the sharp Māori motifs symbolise toughness and pride. The colour scheme is also symbolic, with red representing hard work, blue for strength and green for growth & harmony. The exposure generated from the event for Australia and New Zealand was simply huge. The Pakistan vs India game alone had an estimated TV audience equalling approximately one eighth of the world’s population.
Balarinji Fabrics
Where it all started for Balarinji studio—fabrics. In the early 1980s, the Moriarty’s created a range of Aboriginal inspired fabrics. The example shown here is of a Japanese Kimono made using Balarinji designed fabrics—dating from the 1990s.
Spirit in the Sky
The use of Aboriginal art to adorn Qantas aircraft was a huge step forward in bringing awareness to the unique creative talents of Indigenous Australians. Between 1994—2018, Qantas branded five aircraft in this manner— the first being Qantas Boeing 747-400 ‘Wunala Dreaming’.
The second was Qantas Boeing 747-338 ‘Nalanji Dreaming’ in 1995 and then in 2002 Qantas completed their Boeing 737-800 ‘Yananyi Dreaming’. Rene Kulitja. created the artwork.
Growing Awareness in Corporate Australia
The 2000’s saw a rise in interest in Indigenous art and the use of this within the corporate world in Australia. Downer EDI was the result of a 2001 merger between Australasian infrastructure giant Downer and transport engineering firm Evans Deakin Industries (EDI). The newly formed entity commissioned the team at Balarinji to create these Indigenous themed visuals for part of the office fit out.
Celebrating Australia
The team at Balarinji has been instrumental in bringing indigenous art into popular Australian culture—and nothing is more popular in Australia than sport.
To promote the 1999 opening of Stadium Australia in Homebush, Sydney, Balarinji designed this poster. Built for the 2000 Olympics, this massive stadium had an original capacity of 110,000 spectators.
Continuing the sporting theme and also the tradition of fabric design—the team at Balarinji created uniforms for the Australian team competing at the 2016 Paralympic Games held in Rio.
To promote the same event, Balarinji created a dazzling light installation which was projected onto the Sydney Opera House.
Reconciliation begins with Awareness
The Australian Dream feature-length documentary (2019) follows the story of Adam Goodes, an Aboriginal Australian who played 372 games for the Sydney Swans AFL team and his fight against racism in modern Australia. Written by Stan Grant and directed by Daniel Gordon, it won the AACTA Award for best feature documentary in 2019. Balarinji designer, Lisa Sansbury, designed the official poster seen here.
This poster ‘Walk the Walk’ features artwork by John Moriarty. It was used to promote what would become a milestone in Australian history. On 28th May 2000, a quarter of a million people turned out for the Walk for Reconciliation across Sydney’s Harbour Bridge. This was the single largest political demonstration ever held in Australia. The date commemorated the publishing of ‘Bringing Them Home’, – report released on 26th May 1997. This report concluded an official inquiry into the policy of the forced separation of indigenous children from their families—otherwise known as the Stolen Generations. Eight years later, on 13 February 2008, then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, issued a formal apology to Indigenous Australians.
The Moriarty Legacy – beyond Balarinji
John and Ros Moriarty have built a ground-breaking design practice that has redefined and enriched what it means to be Australian. Their continued advocacy provides a platform for vision and voice to First Nation creators and communities in inclusive ways. They have also inspired a generation of Aboriginal-owned design studios that continue to maintain the integrity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.
2011 saw another significant milestone—the establishment of the Moriarty Foundation. This foundation enables Aboriginal communities to unlock their children’s potential and radically shift intergenerational disadvantage through two programs—the John Moriarty Football (JMF) program and Indi Kindi.
The John Moriarty Football (JMF) Program
Outside of the Design world, many know John as the first Aboriginal soccer player selected for the Australian team—the Socceroos. His involvement in the sport gave birth to the John Moriarty Football (JMF) program. This program aims to develop talent, foster positive change and provide educational opportunities using sport as the vehicle to engage children. Currently, the program engages 1,200 boys and girls in remote and regional indigenous communities.
Indi Kindi
Through marriage, Ros became a member of John’s Yanyuwa people who inhabit the coastal region in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria (Northern Territory). Giving back to these communities has always been part of the purpose of Balarinji—and success has facilitated this. Indi Kindi delivers health, well-being and education of early years indigenous children in two remote Northern Territory communities with the assistance of UNICEF Australia. That is a legacy!
Ros attends an Indi Kindi session in Borroloola, Northern Territory in 2016.
