The Art Gallery of Western Australia is ready to celebrate NAICOC week this December with a several special events.

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NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each year to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. The week is a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

While the gallery always has an impressive range of Aboriginal art on display at the gallery, during NAIDOC week they will have some extra special events.

Yarning Together: A Community Celebration of Balga Waangkiny
10am–4.30pm, Sunday 8 November

This free event will be a community celebration of Sharyn Egan’s participatory project Balga Waangkiny, and a day of Yarning Together.

Sharyn Egan and Ron Bradfield Jnr will be in conversation exploring their affinity with Balga (grass trees) 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 during NAIDOC Week 2020.

NAIDOC Week Guided Tours
Various times, Sunday 8 – Sunday 15 November

Indigenous and Torres Strait Art is one of Australia’s greatest cultural gifts to the world. It is part of the continuum of lived experience, ceremonial practice, and the connection with traditional lands and ancestral beliefs. Indigenous art is strikingly beautiful. But it can also tell of a history of sorrow, dislocation and discrimination.

All free public tours during NAIDOC Week will focus on contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art from the State Art Collection. These tours will highlight the many wondrous art styles, forms and subjects that continue to inspire and captivate Indigenous artists today.

Deadly Denim | Make Your Own Jacket Workshop
10.30am–1.30pm, Sunday 8 November | $80+bf

Bring along your denim jacket and join the creator and 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. This event has a fee.

Find out about all the NAIDOC week activities at the Art Gallery of Western Australia. 

Image credit: Queenie (Garagarag) McKenzie Neermeeroni – The Rainmaker 1998. Natural ochres, pigments, binder on canvas, 100 x 140 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased through the Sir Claude Hotchin Art Foundation, Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation, 2000. © Queenie McKenzie, 1998.

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