NSW Aboriginal cultural centres combine for first exhibition
May 27 - Aug 27
For the first time nine New South Wales Aboriginal owned cultural facilities have banded together to present an exhibition drawn from their collections.
From our place: an exhibition from NSW Aboriginal Cultural Centres opens in Temora at the Bundawarrah Centre from Sunday 28 May as part of Reconciliation Week 2017.
It is the culmination of not just months of work for curator, Gumbaynggir artist Alison Williams but also several years of development for ACHAA, the Aboriginal Culture, Heritage & Arts Association.
“Unlike other states, there is no real uniformity or genre of Aboriginal community owned cultural facilities in NSW,” explains Williams who was also the inaugural Chair of ACHAA. “Each has been a response to its community’s desire and will to have its own keeping and meeting place where art and culture can be collected, maintained and renewed through practice and application.
“Broadly that’s the objectives of all the ACHAA member organisations represented in this exhibition, to ensure NSW Aboriginal culture remains not just viable but actually thrives through visibility and engagement. The local difference is what vessel the community has identified for that to be established - as a cultural centre, knowledge centre, art gallery, keeping place or museum.
“In one remote area instance in Bourke, that gallery and centre spreads its message even further through community radio and the use of language. It’s all about keeping culture alive and relevant.
“There are also vastly diverse landscapes across NSW and this is represented in the centres’ collections as engagement with the land is central to Aboriginal cultures.
“These are all key dynamics that I wanted to see reflected in the exhibition.”
The nine Aboriginal community owned centres represented in the From our place exhibition are: Muda Aboriginal Corporation (2CUZFM Bourke); Dharriwaa Elders Group (Walgett); Minjungbal Aboriginal Cultural Centre (Tweed Heads); Yarrawarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre (Corindi Beach); Dunghutti-Ngaku Aboriginal Art Gallery (Kempsey); Armidale Aboriginal Culture Centre & Keeping Place; Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative (Leichhardt); Muru Mittigar Aboriginal Cultural Centre (Rouse Hill) and Yarkuwa Indigenous Knowledge Centre (Deniliquin).
From our place is at the Bundawarrah Centre, 29 Junee Road Temora until Sunday 27 August 2017.
Phone: 0269 771 086
From our place and ACHAA are proudly supported by Museum & Galleries of NSW and the NSW Government through Create NSW.
