Womin djeka. And welcome to this very special online Graduate Festival of 2020.

I'd 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. We recognise their ancestors and traditional ownership of these lands. I'd also like to add my personal acknowledgement of the Nuenonne people of the South East Nations of lutrawita where I've spent much of this year working.

Connections to place and country I think have been transformed in 2020 in ways we could never have imagined. What it is to have connections to each other, to where we live and work, and to place, have also been transformed. I'd argue they have in fact become stronger through the adversity of COVID-19. We’ve found new ways of connecting; indeed we've found new ways of being, dwelling, playing, loving and sharing. And these discoveries I think have informed what you'll be seeing in this Graduate Festival.

I have to pass on my profound thanks to this graduating cohort for their resilience and for their creativity and their passion towards their individual practices. What I've seen from the glimpses of this platform are quite breathtaking. So while it has been a difficult year, and I would never underestimate that, we must also celebrate having generated these successes, these discoveries, and finding our way through, and again I believe, community has never been more important, nor have we had ritual ways in which to connect and share.

The masterminds of this particular part of that are indeed our graduate exhibition committee, led by Paula McDonald, and I must pass on again the school's profound thanks for her work alongside Gracia and Louise, our web-designer architects extraordinaire. Ingrid Macklary, Bronwyn Hughes, Dom Redfern, who played a particular leadership role on that committee and especially, and indeed, our student representatives – we've learned with you through this year, and we've been excited to find with you new ways of sharing your work beyond the school.

Finally, a very special thanks to the program managers, and of course to the students of these graduating cohorts. Your ability to adapt, to innovate and to always keep our students and their work at the front of your mind has been incredibly impressive. So my sincere thanks to them also.

And lastly, our friends, colleagues, and indeed family beyond the school – the community of this graduating cohort who will be going on to become a part of our alumni; our award givers, who we sincerely thank again; our industry partners; and all those who have made your work, and this event, possible.

Again, well done on succeeding through 2020. We sincerely look forward to keeping in touch and enjoying what we can share here.

Thank you.

Professor Kit Wise, Dean, Art, 2020