National Reconcilation Week begins this Friday, 27th May, marking the anniversary of the 1967 referendum that saw over 90% of Australians vote to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and include them in the national census.
Reconciliation Week encourages us to celebrate and build on the respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) peoples and other Australians.
Our school has focused on a variety of different areas of ATSI culture to develop a better understanding of connection to the land and the importance of maintaining traditions.
KL and 1S have explored Aboriginal art that are 'Songlines'. Songlines are an oral storytelling tradition that describe a specific area or significant event in a tribe or clan's history. They can also be related to the artist's totem- a pattern or representation of the animal that the family is associated with.
Last week these students chose something that described them- something they liked doing or playing- and created abstract shapes or patterns to represent it.
Today, KL chose one of the shapes in their drawing and used positive and negative space to create an artwork that represents them.
We are very pleased with how KL's totems turned out, and look forward to displaying them in the Hall for our Indigenous performance this Monday, 30th June, by Troy Allen.