Welcome Message By Professor Kit Wise, Dean

Womin djeka! 

And I am delighted to welcome you to this online graduation for 2021.  

My name is Kit Wise. I am the Dean of the School of Art. Of course, this form of graduation is not what we would have imagined a few years ago, but now the opportunities to share our work with the world as a whole is becoming familiar.

I would like to begin by acknowledging the people of the Boon wurrung and Woi wurrung language groups of the Eastern Kulin Nations on whose unceded lands RMIT University conducts its business. I would like to acknowledge the elders and traditional custodians of those lands and waters and indeed the First Nations across the world where RMIT is present.

As I say, this is a brave new world. One that we are increasingly familiar with perhaps: of the blend of the real and virtual, the online and the physical. I am, as ever, astonished and deeply impressed by how our students have innovated through these years.

For the graduate cohort of 2021 especially, myself and heads of schools across the country are commenting on the new forms that are emerging and that we are seeing practices transmutate, evolve, innovate in extraordinary and in previously unimagined ways.

It has been a hard and challenging year, or few years, but the learnings from them around creativity, around community and care, I think will stand us all in good stead and indeed shape our lifetimes. The role of art and photography has never been more important, helping us to know, think and change as we adapt and grow. I would like to congratulate the cohort of 2021 then, for your extraordinary resilience, imagination and again, innovation. I would also like to take a moment to congratulate and thank your family and friends – those loved ones who have, I am sure, supported you and been with you through this year especially. 

I would like to thank our wider friends and community, our industry partners, who have continued to find new ways to support our students and our shared ambitions and dreams.

And most importantly, I would like to thank my extraordinary colleagues for their dedication, for their imagination and resilience; both my academic colleagues and the technicians and professional staff across the school who have made this online celebration possible.

Many individuals will be mentioned, but in particular Paula McDonald, for her extraordinary and tireless and generous work with the online presentation format. Associate Professor Dominic Redfern, for leading the academic thinking and development and more than I can mention here.

We hope you enjoy this celebration. We hope and look forward to seeing you on campus as soon as possible, if not before the end of this year. But our thanks for joining us!  

And finally, and again, congratulations to each and every graduate! 

Good wishes and take care.