NAIDOC half century celebrated with Indigenous creativity

A SPECIAL milestone was celebrated in style at Wonthaggi’s ArtSpace gallery on Sunday, NAIDOC Week’s fiftieth anniversary marked with a smoking ceremony and the official opening of an exhibition showcasing the work of 15 Indigenous artists.

Traditional owners James Hume and Sonia Weston engaged attendees outside the gallery, taking people’s minds off the cool conditions.

Ms Weston spoke about the significance of the day and the cultural importance of smoking ceremonies while Mr Hume tended to the fire onto which Manna Gum, Golden Wattle and Cherry Ballart were placed.

“The Manna Gum is a family tree, the Wattle represents our young men and the Cherry Ballart represents our children,” she explained.

Speaking of this year’s NAIDOC celebration, Ms Weston reflected on the First Nations people who have gone before, having passed on knowledge government policies tried to erase.

She urged people to walk softly on country and care for it, talking about the current coastal erosion situation in Inverloch as an example of where that is not happening.

“The thing we should be doing down there is rejuvenating those sand dunes,” she declared, adding, “We’ve been saying this for 20 years,” and arguing it is important local Aboriginal people are part of discussions on how to care for country.

Ms Weston dismissed the popular rumour that smoking ceremonies and Welcomes to Country were the invention of television personality and Aboriginal man Ernie Dingo.

The importance of being welcomed and smoked onto the country of others was outlined.

While there is still work to be done, the 50^th anniversary celebration offers cause for hope.

“We’ve worked hard to come a long way, and around here I’ve seen a lot of change; when I was a kid it was a pretty racist place, to where it is now with open-minded people,” Mr Hume told the Sentinel-Times of progress locally.

He noted the importance of celebrating NAIDOC in making people more aware of traditional custodians and their culture, that helping change attitudes for the better.

Inside the exhibition, attendees were thanked for turning up and helping Aboriginal people leverage the ability to make real change.

While much of the art, some of which had already sold, was paintings, the styles varied greatly, and there were other forms of creativity such as Saoirse McMahon-Lovett’s ‘Eel on Possum Skin’, the elaborate design burned into the skin.

Exhibition organiser Mary Mutsaers of Bass Coast South Gippsland Reconciliation Group acknowledged Aboriginal people as the first artists in our nation, remarking on the turnout for the opening event as being well over 100 people and saying the show has gone from strength to strength over the years.

Some of this year’s artists were introduced to the audience, and while there were moments of seriousness, there was plenty of humour and a warm spirit of togetherness.

The NAIDOC Week Art Exhibition runs until Sunday August 8.