Looking forward to NAIDOC Week: things to do

Taking the theme, Always Was, Always Will Be 2020 NAIDOC week recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years. 

Despite being postponed due to COVID-19, this later date has allowed for a greater opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians. Here is what you can do this NAIDOC Week 2020: 8 – 15 November.

TALKS

MTalks:  First Nations Women’s Bodies in Colonial Spaces

Distinguished First Nations arts practitioner and academic Paola Balla facilitates an in-depth yarn with this year’s Deadly Fringe visual artists Rosie Kalina and Madison Connors around the complexities and intersections of being a First Nations woman or person who has a lived experience of misogyny, particularly focusing on social media.

There will also be a talk about the ways First Nations women’s bodies have been depicted in a Colonial context, fat-phobia, selfies, body autonomy and how to find the up-sides of social media when it comes to self-image.

When: Sunday, November 15, 2020 – 1 – 2pm. Free. (Ticketed)

Where: This is a virtual event. To register or livestream. This event is presented in partnership with Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Teaching First Nations Content and Concepts

Between 2016 and 2020, Monash University collaborated with the ILBIJERRI Theatre Company and Drama Victoria in developing a resource to empower teachers to engage with First Nations content and concepts like reconciliation.

Teaching First Nations Content & Concepts in the Drama Classroom was launched in February 2020, with the official endorsement of VAEAI (Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated).

Although developed for drama teachers, the resource has been widely acclaimed across education and performing arts sectors. In celebration of NAIDOC Week Monash is hosting a panel discussion with the co-authors along with industry leaders about the development of this resource and its unique approach to supporting reconciliation education in school and community settings.

When: Tuesday, November 10, 2020 – 6.00 – 7.30pm. Free.

Where: Online live stream. Registration essential.

Keynote and Panel talk on Indigenous design

Lidewji (Li) Edlekoort, DIA Keynote speaker. Image supplied.

In an Australian exclusive, the Design Institute of Australia (DIA) will host a Keynote by Lidewji (Li) Edlekoort, discussing the importance of craft within Indigenous culture, and touching on the worldwide return to the relevance of craft post-Covid.

Titled Animism, it will explore how this worldwide cultural shift might align to a deeper understanding and appreciation of Indigenous craft, and how this might inform a future Australian design direction.

It will be followed by a Forum that will discuss the ideas of micro / macro, craft / culture and loci / local. Li will join facilitator Jefa Greenaway of Greenaway Architects (VIC), along with Tom Mosby of Koorie Heritage Trust, John & Ros Moriarty of Balarinji and Moriarty Foundation, David Giles Kaye of Indigenous Fashion Projects Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Erin McDonald from Cox Architecture, Arkie Barton of Arkie the Label, Corey Khan & Ian Moores of Tjuart Architects and Sasha Titchkosky of lighting designer, Koskela. 

When: Monday 9 November, 5:00 pm AEDT – Li Edelkoort Keynote followed at 6:00 pm AEDT with Live Forum responding to the Keynote.

Where: This is a ticketed zoom event. To register.

NGA Annual Lecture: Decolonise Your Feminism

National Gallery of Australia’s 2020 Annual Lecture, titled Decolonise Your Feminism, will be a highlight of the Gallery’s celebrations for NAIDOC Week 2020.

Dr Crystal McKinnon, a Yamatji woman, writer and academic, will deliver the keynote provocation/presentation, which be followed by a keynote discussion on art, gender, power and feminism with Kimberley Moulton, a Yorta Yorta curator, writer and curator, and Wemba-Wemba and Gunditjmara visual artist, curator, community arts worker, writer and academic Paola Balla.

When: Thursday 12 November, 6.00pm. Ticketed.

Where: This is a virtual event. (90 minute duration) The Lecture coincides with the Know My Name initiative.

Join us at the Gallery and online during NAIDOC Week 2020, 8 – 15 November, for a special program of events for all ages including talks, tours and family fun inspired by this year’s theme, ‘Always Was, Always Will Be’.

Tours, workshops and after hours at AGNSW

Enjoy a free Indigenous-led guided tour of the Yiribana Gallery at the Art Gallery of NSW, before it closes in its current location on 15 November to ready itself for a new venue in Sydney Modern. Tours will run from Monday 9 – Sunday 15 November at 11am-12pm. Or you can swing by the exhibition Joy and collect your free take home ‘Make art’ activity for families. Be inspired by Western Aranda artist Judith Inkamala who paints her Country near Ntaria (Hermannsburg) to create an artwork that is filled with birds.

Don’t miss AGNSW special NAIDOC Week Art After Hours Online, livestreamed from the Gallery’s Facebook and YouTube channels, free. Watch artist and Archibald Prize finalist Blak Douglas and Aboriginal rights activist Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts in conversation to discuss sovereignty and the ways they celebrate and amplify First Nations stories through their work and creative practice on 11 November; and see Art Gallery of NSW curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art Coby Edgar in conversation with artist Marlene Rubuntja about her stunning soft sculptures in Joy, their friendship and the importance of community, culture and creativity. 

When: Talks Wednesday 11 November at 7.30pm AEDTand Wednesday 18 November at 7.30pm AEDT. Tours all week at 11 am. Free.

Where: AGNSW, in gallery and online

STUFF FOR KIDS

Storytime with Aunty Fay Muir

Gather the family and join us for a special Zoom storytime at Casey Cardinia Libraries. Come and listen as Boonwurrung and Wamba Wamba Elder, Aunty Fay shares stories with us around the theme of family and the important place that family holds in First Nations culture. Sing, listen and gather as we celebrate NAIDOC Week.

When: Friday, November 13, 2020. 11:00am – 12:00pm. Free

Where: Online Via Zoom. Register.

Under 5s: NAIDOC Week at NGV

Wurundjeri man William Barak used art as a way to record and preserve his culture for future generations.  National Gallery of Victoria educators will use those lessons for a special NAIDOC program this year. Designed for children aged 2 – 5 years and their parents or carers, this session will include an art-making demonstration which will encourage kids to learn more about the traditional custodians of the land, where they live, learn and play. The program will be facilitated by Stephanie Pohlman, NGV Youth and Families Coordinator and Kayla Clinch, Children’s Programs Administration Assistant, NGV Kids.

When: Tuesday 10th, Thursday 12th, Friday 20th and Tuesday 24th November, various times.

Where: A NGV Virtual Event. Free, bookings recommended.

NGV Kids at Home: Art Club with Taylah Cole

Indigenous textile designer and artist Taylah Cole will lead a NAIDOC Week NGV Kids at Home session which has been developed for primary-aged children to participate in activities using everyday drawing materials to stimulate creative thinking.  Based in Naarm (Melbourne), Taylah’s practice is inspired by a love of nature, which comes from growing up surrounded by ferns and lush trees.

When: Every Saturday, 7, 14 & 28 November, from 11.00-11.45 am.

Where: A NGV Virtual Event. Free, bookings recommended.

NGV Teens: Industry Connections with Cassie Leatham  

Cassie Leatham will lead an NGV Teens: Industry Connections session during NAIDOC Week to share her knowledge and experiences as an artist, designer, master weaver, traditional dancer, bushtukka woman and educator. Cassie is from the Taungurung people of the Kulin Nation and has exhibited nationally and internationally. She recently launched a jewellery line in collaboration with the NGV Design Store. She is passionate about teaching her skills to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people of all ages. Her aim is to give participants the opportunity to learn and understand Aboriginal culture and develop knowledge of both historical and contemporary Aboriginal history.

When: Tuesday, 10 November, 5.00-6.00 pm.

Where: A NGV Virtual Event. Free. Bookings recommended.  

YouTube series that features puppetry, animation, song

A new YouTube series that features puppetry, animation, song and live action is helping keep an ancient Indigenous language alive. ‘Thudaan Diini’, or ‘Red Road’ in the Guugu Yimithirr language, is an innovative series created by the Pama Language Centre, funded through our Indigenous Languages and Arts (ILA) program. It is a beautifully filmed language immersion YouTube series that is captivating children and families of the Guugu Yimithirr speech community, with its high quality language recordings, memorable characters and fun text.

Guugu Yimithirr was the first Australian Indigenous language recorded in a word list transcribed by Joseph Banks at Gan-gaarr, (Cooktown) in 1770. This is the Australian language that gave us the word ‘kangaroo’ or gangurru.

‘Thudaan Diini’ is a unique model in the active revitalisation of an endangered language, with eight episodes already available and more being planned. Co-written and presented by Guugu Yimithirr language author and experienced language teacher Lillian Bowen OAM, ‘Thudaan Diin’i is a rich, informed and rigorous teaching tool, supported by activity sheets on the Guugu Yimithirr Living Library, on the Pama Language Centre website.

Watch it: ‘Thudaan Diini’ YouTube channel.

EXHIBITIONS TO VISIT

Ninuku Arts – Ruth Fatt in the studio – Tarnanthi 2019 – courtesy of JamFactory & Ninuku Arts, 2019

Sabbia Gallery showing new Ninuku glass and paper works

Yaltji Ngurru Ngana munu Yaljti kutu ngana ananyi: Where we come from and Where we are going is an exhibition of new glass and paper works from Ninuku, showing at Sabbia Gallery in Sydney, 21 October to 21 November 2020.

Ninuku was founded in 2006 by a small group of Pitjantjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra artists, located in the far northwest corner of South Australia. Currently, the art centre supports a rotating roster of close to forty artists.

Whilst the origins of Ninuku’s creative output lay in the traditions of Western Desert dot painting, artists have grown over time to incorporate loose brush techniques as well as sculpture, and most recently enamelling for hot blown glass.

Seeking new mediums to engage young Anangu artists, in 2018 Ninuku Arts embarked on an opportunity to expand to glass, thanks to project funding from the SA government. The artist learnt to adapt traditional mark making techniques on to glass vessels, blown and then later encased using a grahl technique, by the Jamfactory Contemporary Craft and Design Centre in Adelaide.

Over the past two years a special exchange has emerged between the two cooperative studios. This evolving partnership closely mirrors the collaboration between Jamfactory and the establishment of Pukatja (Ernabella) Pottery in the 1980’s and seems poised for similar longevity.

The exhibition of the first prototypes, Walka Waru: Ninuku Kalawatjanga ungu painta was held as part of the Tarnanthi festival in 2019, with works acquired by the Art Gallery of South Australia. This is the next major unveiling of works.

When: 21 October to 21 November 2020, Free.

Where: Sabbia Gallery, Redfern (NSW)

New Commission by Tjanpi Desert Weavers

A new commission by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers. This large-scale installation tells the ancestral story of the Seven Sisters Dreaming, using sculptural forms woven from materials including tjanpi (the Pitjantjatjara word for grass) and raffia. For this new commission by the National Gallery of Australia, the Tjanpi Desert Weavers use native grasses to create contemporary fibre art. The artists represent 26 remote communities located on Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) lands in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia. A social enterprise of the NPY Women’s Council, the Tjanpi Desert Weavers travel vast distances to weave together, and their work is underpinned by a strong connection to Country, culture and community.

When: 14 November 2020 – 21 July 2021. Free.

Where: National Gallery of Australia (ACT). This Tjanpi Desert Weavers commission is a Know My Name project and is supported by Wesfarmers Arts.

Carmen Glynn-Braun, My Mother’s Keeper (Work-in-Progress) 2020. Image courtesy of the artist.

Aboriginal matrilineal perspectives and insights to environmental care.

‘Dyarra Murrama Guwing’ (the sun setting red) is an intergenerational exhibition celebrating NAIDOC Week 2020. Curated by Rachael Kiang for Gallery Lane Cove (Sydney), it was developed in collaboration and consultation with Aboriginal co-curator Kyra Kum-Sing to present Aboriginal matrilineal perspectives and insights to environmental care. As traditional custodians, the Aboriginal people have much to impart and share in terms of how we relate to nature, flora and fauna.

It features site-specific works by the distinguished Aboriginal photographer Barbara McGrady (Gamilaroi/Gomeroi Murri Yinah), respected multidisciplinary artist and master weaver Nadeena Dixon (Wiradjuri, Yuin and Gadigal) and talented emerging contemporary artist Carmen Glynn-Braun (Southern Arrernte, Kaytetye, and Ammatyerre nations).

When: 4 November -5 December 2020. Public opening event on Saturday 7 November 10am-1pm. Free.

Where: Gallery Lane Cove (NSW)

The Art of Gordon Bennett

Gordon Bennett, Notes To Basquiat (Death Of Irony) 2002. Courtesy the Bennett Estate.

Unfinished Business: The Art of Gordon Bennett is the first large-scale exhibition of Bennett’s oeuvre since 2007. The exhibition showcases Bennett’s key series in depth, his most important and admired works, and includes many works which have rarely if ever been exhibited.

Gordon Bennett voraciously consumed art history, current affairs, rap music and fiction, and processed it all into an unflinching critique of how identities are constituted and how history shapes individual and shared cultural conditions. Audiences will experience almost 200 artworks ranging from installation and sculptural assemblage to painting, drawing, video and ceramics.

Born in Queensland, he lived for a significant period of his life in Brisbane and his practice has been notable in the development of art reflecting identity and social conditions during a time of post-colonialism.

When: 7 November 2020 – 21 March 2021. Free

Where: Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (QLD)

From car bonnets to contemporary works, to the iconic Mavis Ngallametta at GOMA

GOMA has a huge Indigenous program this NAIDOC Week, from I, object, an edgy contemporary art exhibition that looks at the many complex relationships Indigenous Australian artists have to objects: from the histories informing their creation, to the social and cultural consequences of their collection.

To Kayili car bonnets –  artists give these car bonnets new life, painting with an intensity that reflects their calling as tradition-bearers to constantly invent ways to record their culture and portray their desert world. They indulge their love of colour by animating these surfaces with shimmering, cryptic, topographical maps of their country, and the ancestral journeys that formed it.

They are created by Kayili artists, Pulpurru Davies, Nola Campbell, Mary Gibson, Jackie Kurltjunyintja Giles and Ngipi Ward, who were among the last nomadic desert peoples forced into settler life. They now live in a small community at Patjarr, a thousand kilometres west of Alice Springs in the heartland of the Western Desert, the desert now populated with cars, some functional, many in various stages of decay.

And the celebrated survey exhibition Mavis Ngallametta: Show Me the Way to Go Home (at QAG until 7 February 2021), an elder of the Putch clan and a cultural leader of the Wik and Kugu people of Aurukun. Ngallametta was one of the most well-regarded senior community-based artists in Australia. Enjoy our series of videos of exploring the work of Mavis Ngallametta with Katina Davidson, Curator of Indigenous Art, QAGOMA. Watch the full playlist

When: all showing through mid 2021; or take a virtual walk through of I, Object.

Where: Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (QLD)

A celebration of the joy of making and sharing culture and life together

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art can very easily slip into seriousness. Although it is important to tell the stories of history and people that are uncomfortable, in need of critical dialogue or deeply embedded in culture and its practices, it is also important to celebrate joy. The joy of culture and the histories that inform those moments are significant but we often forget to make space for them to resonate. With objects and short films from across the Central Desert, this exhibition is a celebration of the joy of making and sharing culture and life together.

When: 24 October 2020 – 2021. Free.

Where: Art Gallery of NSW.

An exhibition that looks at the censorship of Aboriginal culture in the landscape

James Tylor Vanished From an Untouched Landscape 8 2018, Inkjet print. Image courtesy the artist and CCAS.

Artist James Tylor highlights the contemporary absence of Aboriginal culture within the Australian landscape and how this phenomenon is a direct result of the impact of European colonisation in his exhibition at Canberra Contemporary Art Space (CCAS), From An Untouched Landscape.

As Tylor explains, ‘the first European colonists forced the local Aboriginal people off their traditional lands and into small Christian missions and government reserves. This allowed the new European arrivals free access to clear the land for settlements, forestry and agriculture. This clearing of Aboriginal people from the landscape resulted in the removal of Indigenous cultural artefacts and identity from the Australian landscape. Today the absence of Aboriginal culture within the Australian landscape is censored by this process of colonisation and has left much of the Australian landscape with the appearance that it was ‘Untouched’ before European arrival.’

James Tylor is an Australian multi-disciplinary contemporary visual artist with a multicultural heritage that comprises Nunga (Kaurna), Māori (Te Arawa) and European (English, Scottish, Irish, Dutch and Norwegian) ancestry.

When: 9 – 29 November 9, 2020. Free. Tylor will be giving an artist talk at CCAS 15 November, 3 – 5pm, which is followed by a boat ride from Commonwealth Place to Springbank Island where Tylor and Samantha Rich will talk about their Contour 556 installation, The Dwelling.Bookings via DESIGN Canberra.

Where: Canberra Contemporary Art Space (ACT). The exhibition is part of DESIGN Canberra Festival.

HANDS ON WORKSHOPS & MARKETS

Yarning Together: A Community Celebration of Balga Waangkiny

Join Sharyn Egan and Ron Bradfield Jnr in a participatory project Balga Waangkiny at the Art Gallery of WA, and a day of Yarning Together. Egan will be in conversation exploring their affinity with Balga (grasstrees) and their important uses as tools and shelter in Noongar culture. Come and untangle your thoughts, weave your feelings and share ideas about community and connection. Weave a friendship bracelet to take with you as a reminder and celebration of Noongar culture – Always Was, Always Will Be. The final collaborative Balga Waangkiny works will be on display in the AGWA Concourse.

When: Sunday 8 November, 10am–4.30pm. Free.

Where: Art Gallery of WA.

Deadly Denim Workshop

Image Deadly Denim Workshop, Courtesy AGWA.

Bring along your denim jacket and join the creator/owner of Deadly Denim Rebecca Rickard who will walk you through constructing and sewing together a deadly jacket choosing from a wide selection of these amazing textiles. Deadly Denim is a business with a social impact, aiming to be as sustainable as possible. Showcasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists on upcycled denim. Some fabrics used are from Aboriginal Art Centres in WA and the Northern Territory, and others are individual artists Deadly Denim has collaborated with to create digitally printing designs.

When: Sunday, 8 November,  10.30am–1.30pm. Ticketed.

Where: Art Gallery of WA.

Film Screening:Tracey Moffatt

Watch an online screening of short film Other and feature film Bedevil by artist Tracey Moffatt, preceded by a curatorial introduction by Shaune Lakin, Senior Curator, Photography and Gayle Lake, Chief Curator, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

When: Saturday 5 November 6pm. (2 hour duration) Free.

Where: Online event. Register. Presented by National Gallery of Australia in partnership with the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

Blak Markets

There will be plenty in store at the iconic Blak Markets at The Rocks in Sydney, on the weekend of 14 -15 November on Tallowolladah Lawn.

When: 14 – 15 November 14, 2020, from 10:00am to 5.00pm. Free.

Where: Blak Markets in The Rocks,  Tallowolladah Lawn, Circular Quay (NSW).

Rethinking the mall

Barkindji artist Maddison Gibbs and Gamilaraay/Wonnarua artist Debra Beale of Boomalli Arts, have created a major installation at Broadway, in Sydney’s CBD. Beale’s artwork, displayed on Broadway’s travelator is named Aboriginal Bush Lamps – Healing Gunya and expresses the importance of Home (gunyah) to Aboriginal people. Boomalli Arts has also been commissioned to showcase artists works alongside Beale.

Community members can also get involved to learn more about Aboriginal culture and support artists and designers from around the country during NAIDOC Week 2020, with an Indigenous Collective pop-up store showcasing fashion, accessory and lifestyle pieces, and a free weaving workshops held by Wiradjuri artist, Peta-Joy Williams of Boomalli Arts on 15 November to create their own piece of art. 

When: Pop-up stores – Friday, 6th November – Sunday, 15th November. Weaving Workshops – Saturday, 15th November at 10am and 2pm. Free.

Where: Level 3, Broadway Shopping Centre, Ultimo (NSW)

ON STAGE & LIVESTREAMED PERFORMANCES

Treaty: Music showcase from SA

A new live music showcase of South Australia’s best emerging and established First Nations artists will be presented at Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute in Adelaide. Confirmed to perform live at TREATY are: Darwin born and bred rapper J-MILLA, hip hop groups Sonz of Serpent and Dem Mob, rapper RKM aka Rulla Kelly-Mansell, singer/songwriters Tilly Tjala Thomas, MRLN aka Marlon Motlop and Katie Aspel. DJ MoZzi will be on the decks and MC duties will be jointly handled by J-MILLA and Natasha Wanganeen.

When: Friday, November 13, 2020 from 4pm – 10pm. Free. Ticketed.

Where: Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide (SA)

Dance Rites Festival streamed

Jannawi Dance clan and is on Darug country. Image credit is Ken Leanfore.

The Sydney Opera House will present its sixth annual Dance Rites festival online, bringing together 28 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance groups in a celebratory digital event with more than 350 performers spanning generations, nations and clan groups.

Australia’s annual First Nations dance competition seeks to revitalise vanishing cultural practices and showcase the richness and diversity of First Nations culture. It will be broadcast on the Opera House’s digital channels over four consecutive nights from Wednesday 11 – Saturday 14 November, coinciding with NAIDOC Week.

The finals, in partnership with NITV, will air on Saturday 21 November. The broadcast will include two filmed dances from each group: a traditional dance (either a welcome or a farewell) and a ‘wildcard’ dance that may fuse contemporary dance and music with tradition. Dance Rites 2020 will include performances from:

• Djakapurra Dancers led by Djakapurra Munyarryun, often described as Bangarra’s spirit man and the Songman for the Sydney 2000 Olympics Games;
• Mornington Island Dance Group, who performed for the opening of the Opera House in 1973;
• The all-female Dyiraamalang (Wiradjuri for ‘leader’) who came together to reclaim their dance practice and share it with their community; and
• Luurnpa Dancers led by prominent artist and senior law man Jimmy Tchooga.

The winning group will receive $20,000, one runner-up will receive $5,000, and $3,000 will go to the highest-scoring ‘wildcard’ dance. The $4,000 Rite of Passage Award acknowledges one group’s outstanding contribution to revitalising cultural knowledge and practices.

When: 11 – 14 November and finals 21 November.

Where: Free to watch live online, From Our House to Yours.

Morning Star. Evening Star – Yugambeh Youth Choir perform on Burleigh Beach

Let’s gather on the sand to experience the spellbinding premiere performance of Morning Star. Evening Star, a Yugambeh Yarrabil Gaureima song and story – the conversation between two stars. Demonstrating ecological knowledge and the relationship between the land, sea and sky in the Yugambeh language region, this song, passed on by Kombumerri and Ngugi Elder, Lottie Eaton (Levinge), is retold by Candace Kruger, Isobella Kruger and Lann Levinge, and performed by the Yugambeh Youth Choir. Sit with us in the sand circle for this special cultural moment in time and celebrate the magic of First Nations’ storytelling, shared through song.

When: Thursday 12 November 7.00am and Sunday 22 November at 5.30pm. Ticketed event.

Where: This is a Bleach Festival event. Justins Park, The Esplanade, Burleigh Heads. (QLD)

ABC Melbourne presents a NAIDOC Week music celebration

ABC Melbourne presents a NAIDOC Week music celebration. Jacinta Parsons and Shelley Ware present a music special for NAIDOC Week on Tuesday, 10 November. Broadcasting on-air from 2-3pm on ABC Radio Melbourne & Victoria and streamed on the ABC Melbourne Facebook and YouTube from 8-9pm.

This special broadcast will feature the multi-award winning singer-songwriter Kutcha Edwards, performing his latest single from his forthcoming album Circling Time, as well as two emerging female artists Kee’ahn and Bumpy flooring audiences around the country with their soulful vocals, as well as a performance by soul powerhouse Emma Donavan with her funk band, The Putbacks.

When: The performance will be broadcast on ABC Radio Melbourne & Victoria on Tuesday, 10 November, on-air from 2-3pm and streamed on Facebook and YouTube from 8-9pm. Free.

Where: ABC Radio Melbourne. Tune in.

First Light Last Light

Photo Maleika Halpin.

As the sun rises on the first morning, and sets on the last evening of BLEACH Festival on the Gold Coast, people are asked to share in a special one-off performance on the shores of Burleigh Beach. Luther Cora – an Indigenous cultural performer and contemporary artist from the Bungarre family of the Yugambeh language group of the Bundjalung nation from Gold Coast and Tweed area – will join the Yugambeh Dancers in this special event.

When: Thursday 12 November 5.00am and Sunday, 22 November at 6.20pm. Free.

Where: This is a Bleach Festival event. Burleigh Beach, Gold Coast. (QLD)

A durational, immersive black feminist installation & performance

Dive into DABILBUNG (brokenwater) by Libby Harward, a durational, immersive black feminist installation and one-woman construction site about broken water-ways and Indigenous water sovereignty. The work responds to artist Libby Harward’s journey through freshwater nations listening to the stories of Aboriginal Custodians.

Listen, embody and participate in an amplification of nature’s messages from within this one-woman construction site. This is a sound affirmation, de-constructing the instruments of occupation, reclamation, classification, extraction and greed, to join the many First Nations voices across this continent calling for the healing of our water-ways. Libby Harward is a Quandamooka artist of Moreton Bay in Queensland. DABILBUNG (brokenwater) was developed under a joint commission with Next Wave festival 2020 and BLEACH Festival. It has been curated by Danni Zuvela.

When: Performance Saturday, 21 November 5:30PM Free. Registration required. Installation showing 12-22 November 7am – 9pm Daily.

ADVOCATE

Growing the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Consultation Survey

The Australian Government wants to hear about how it can support ethical dealing, increase economic opportunities for Indigenous artists and help grow the Indigenous visual arts industry.

Lend your voice to a critical survey, currently underway. This survey complements the Australian Government’s Consultation Paper on Growing the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry. Who is this survey for?

• Indigenous Visual Artists – Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander professional artists (where income from the sale of artworks support some or all living expenses).
• Visual Arts Facilitators – People who provide, or work for an organisation that provides, visual arts facilities, gallery space, professional development, business administration, coordination, or advocacy services for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander visual artists and designers.
• Buyers and Prospective Buyers.
• Sellers of Indigenous Visual Art – People who sell, or connect buyers to artists for the purpose of selling, Indigenous visual art (for example, sole trader artists, art market professionals, gallerists, auctioneers, wholesalers, art centres and art fair retailers).

Where: You can complete either or both a consultation submission and/or this survey.