NAIDOC Week at Knight Frank
Public Art Creative Activation
Melbourne, Victoria
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Artist Services
Design & Fabrication
Installation
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Placemaking & Creative Activations
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Simone Thomson
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Knight Frank
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Images courtesy of Knight Frank
For NAIDOC Week 2025, Knight Frank wanted to commission a temporary activation. Our team worked closely with Wurundjeri / Yorta Yorta / Wiradjuri artist and designer Simone Thomson to create a vibrant, temporary installation along the Birrarung. Translating the artist’s original hand sketches and drawings into large-scale temporary vinyl, we worked closely to craft the layered design under her direction.
Using richly-coloured vinyl across glass and architectural surfaces, the work transformed the site into a dynamic storytelling space that celebrated the annual NAIDOC theme (The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy) and connection to Country.
The installation drew on the symbolism of woven baskets — vessels for holding knowledge, memory, and cultural inheritance. In Thomson’s design, these forms became flowing motifs across the built surface, carrying the idea of stories gathered and shared along the river. Positioned beside the Birrarung, the work acknowledged the river as both life source and pathway, a place of gathering that continues to connect people across time.
Our Role
WRAP's role was to help translate Thomson’s separate drawings, paintings, and sketches into a large-scale temporary vinyl work — ensuring that the temporary medium carried the full weight of its cultural significance.
The Result
The result was an activation that not only marked the 50-year milestone of NAIDOC Week, but also invited the public to witness and share in the ongoing resilience and creativity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Both celebratory and reflective, a bold and colourful presence in the city that invited passersby to pause, connect with story, and honour the living cultures of the Birrarung during NAIDOC Week.
Set along the Birrarung, the artwork reflected the river’s role as both a life source and a pathway of exchange, a place where knowledge flows like water — from Elders to youth, from past to present, and into the future.
By embedding this narrative in bold, contemporary design, the installation honoured the legacies of ancestors while celebrating the strength of today’s communities and the vision of young leaders shaping tomorrow.
→ ARTIST/S
Simone Thomson
Simone Thomson is a proud Wurundjeri, Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri artist and maker. Simone’s practice stems from her deep spiritual connection to culture and Country, and a creative urge to produce evocative works which connect people of all walks of life and cultural backgrounds to Aboriginal storytelling. Simone’s multidisciplinary approach enriches the cultural landscape and ensures First Nations voices remain vibrant and central to Australia’s artistic narrative. Through her work she honours her ancestors and the sacred art of storytelling, inspiring broader conversations about the vitality and significance of Aboriginal storytelling to us today.
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