The Big Splash WA initiative was conceived to shine a light on child and adolescent mental health, initiate conversations and raise much-needed funds for mental health, whereby a pod of 50 dolphins painted by local artists were displayed around the streets of Perth city.

The dolphin was chosen to represent the initiative due to the many similar traits between dolphins and humans. Like us, dolphins thrive in groups and communities, display distress in isolation, have distinct personalities and flaws and need to come up for air and blow off steam from time to time. 

At Coogee Live 2019, in collaboration with PCHF, we brought this campaign back to the forefront, with an interactive art installation with well-known Indigenous artist Kevin Bynder who worked festival goers painting a new dolphin. Our dolphin, aptly named Bunuru, now resides in a local school as a reminder of the importance of child mental health.

Bunuru in Noongar is the Second Summer (Feb – March) and is also known as the Season of Adolescence, appropriate given the mental health campaign. Bunur is also the changing of seasons where hot winds and little or no rain starts to transform the landscape with fresh waterfalls become plentiful and flowers and fruits ripen and blossom.