GALLERY CELEBRATES NOONGAR HISTORY & CULTURE
NAIDOC WEEK 3rd to 10th JULY

By Diana Roberts, Director of Bunbury Regional Art Galleries

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The first week in July probably means a number of things to different people - mid winter, school holidays, Christmas-in-July parties. But it has a far deeper significance that is well worth celebrating, NAIDOC Week.

NAIDOC Week is the outcome of a long history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander activism that gathered pace in the 1920s and 1930s, when a number of Aboriginal rights organizations drew to attention the poor living conditions endured by Aboriginal people and their lack of citizenship rights. Today the first week in July marks a national celebration of Indigenous heritage and culture and NAIDOC refers to all events that take place during National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Week.

The Kombi Van, Allawah Children

The National NAIDOC website www.naidoc.org.au provides an excellent history of NAIDOC, together with a list of ideas on how to celebrate NAIDOC Week, including visiting indigenous sites of significance and studying Aboriginal arts and crafts. Residents of the South West and visitors to the region can do just this when they visit Bunbury Regional Art Galleries.

The Galleries are housed in a distinctive pink building in the centre of Bunbury, a former convent siuated on land that's significant to Noongar people due to its proximity to an Aborignal burial site in nearby Pioneer Park. Throughout July, the Galleries will host NOONGAR COUNTRY, a series of five indigenous exhibitions featuring historic photographs and contemporary art and craft work from the South West and Great Southern. Every exhibition space will be taken up with historic images and contemporary artwork relating to Noongar culture and heritage.

On the Outskirts is a photographic exhibition on loan from the Berndt Museum of Anthropology at the University of Western Australia. 50 photographs depict life at Allawah Grove Aboriginal Settlement in South Guildford. From 1958 to 1969, Allawah Grove housed families of Aboriginal descent, as part of the 'Transitional Housing Scheme' introduced by the Native Welfare Department to introduce European 'ways of living' to local Aboriginal families.

Within a decade, the residents of Allawah Grove had its own Progress Committee, Women's Committee and Advancement Council and these groups took steps to improve conditions for Aboriginal people all over Australia and contributed to a growing global interest in Aboriginal affairs. The exhibition gives an insight into the spirit, resilience and humour of the Noongar people and provides a great opportunity for non-indigenous people to learn about their recent history.

On the Outskirts represents a small part of a collection bequeathed to the Berndt Museum of Anthropology, The University of Western Australia by Cyril and Elsie Gare. The Gare's were both influential members of the Allawah Grove administration and affiliates for the Quaker Service Council Australia.

Another traveling exhibition featured in NOONGAR COUNTRY is Seven Sisters: Fibre Works Arising from the West. Presented by Art on the Move in association with FORM (formerly Craftwest), Seven Sisters is the first major survey of a 25 year cross-cultural collaboration between indigenous and non-indigenous women artists from Narrogin and the Western Desert.

The inspiration behind the exhibition is respected textile artist Nalda Searles, a woman's art movement that centres around the use of native fibres and dyes and a story about seven sisters who took refuge in the sky, to form the Pleiades star cluster. This story of women's solidarity under a common sky, has been told for centuries in other cultures world-wide. It forms the core of the exhibition.

Bridging urban and rural experience, traditional craft practice and contemporary interpretation, Seven Sisters takes a common thread and weaves it into a powerful interpretation of shared connections. Nalda Searles' work points to the poignant results of white occupation and the complex interface between cultures. The Noongar artists are older women, custodians of Aboriginal law, university lecturers and practicing artists. All have exhibited extensively and are represented in a number of state and private collections.

Nalda will run a one-day fibre workshop in the Gallery on Saturday 23rd July and anyone who is interested should contact Sue Dennis on 9721 8616 for details.

Travelling exhibitions cost a lot of money and rely on State and Commonwealth funding. On the Outskirts is presented by the Berndt Museum of Anthropology, the Department of Environment and Heritage, Art on the Move and Mrs Janet Holmes a Court. The tour is managed by Art on the Move, the National Exhibitions Touring Structure for Western Australia. The Seven Sisters tour is also managed by Art on the Move. The State of Western Australia provides funds through ArtsWA in association with the Lotteries Commission. Art on the Move is assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council.

Seven Sisters left to right - Sister Ivy Hopkins, Sister Nalda Searles, Sister Kantjupayi Benson, Sister Jean Surke, Sister Thisbe Purich, Sister Elaine Lane, Sister India Flint.		Noongar Moorditj and Boongarl Yirel are exhibitions of contemporary paintings by Noongar artists from the South West and Great Southern. Noongar Moorditj illustrates the evolution of Noongar art from the Carrolup landscape style, which originated in the 1950s, to abstract interpretations of traditional Noongar stories. Some of the leading artists featured in the exhibition include Tjyllyungoo - Lance Chadd (see South West Life August 2004), Shane Pickett, Graham Taylor (SWAG) and Troy Bennell. Troy recently returned from a successful tour of Europe to promote South West Noongar art to the international art market.

The fifth exhibition featured in NOONGAR COUNTRY is Koolangka Maar Koorliny. Meaning children's hands going, Koolangka Maar Koorliny is a delightful exhibition of artwork by Djidi Djidi School students. Each year NAIDOC Week has a theme. The theme for this year's celebrations is Our future begins with solidarity. With this in mind, Bunbury Regional Art Galleries will hold a two-day Fellowship Workshop on 7th and 8th July. Organized in association with the South West Development Commission, the workshop has been planned to encourage		Bluff Knoll by Graham Taylor (SWAG)
prominent Noongar artists to work together in an environment of unity and fellowship. The artists will be invited to express themselves as individuals, whilst sharing and preserving the Noongar culture through creative celebration.

The National NAIDOC website encourages all Australians to take part in NAIDOC Week as a great way to celebrate Aboriginal culture and build bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. NOONGAR COUNTRY will be launched at a traditional ceremony by Noongar elders at Bunbury Regional Art Galleries on 7th July. All members of the community are welcome to join our NAIDOC celebrations.