Arts NAIDOC 2015 - Official Celebration 6pm, Monday 6 July

Arts NAIDOC 2015 - Official Celebration 6pm, Monday 6 July

NAIDOC Week (5 - 12 July 2015) celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  The acronym originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’.  In conjunction with the annual national event, the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery & Museum show Arts NAIDOC and this year is exhibiting a selection of vibrant paintings and historical photographs from the local community and the permanent collection. 

The exhibition has been on display since Reconciliation Week, around May 23 and will close at the end of NAIDOC Week. The official Arts NAIDOC 2015 celebration will be held at the Gallery & Museum on Monday 6 July, at 6pm, with Cr Gail Sellers, Mayor of Gladstone Region speaking.

Each year local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists are invited to exhibit their works alongside selected pieces from the Gallery & Museum's permanent collection.  This year, a stunning array of artworks were loaned from local artists including Patricia Coleman, Leanne McGee and Desline Renz.

In association with this year’s NAIDOC Week theme, We all Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate, the exhibition reflects back to the GIVEN (Gladstone Indigenous Vocation & Enterprise Network) exhibition, Coastal Connections.  The 2003 exhibition involved artists and Elders sharing their knowledge, skills and stories with students from the Gladstone Regions secondary high schools.  The students travelled to Facing Island and engaged in various activities including Aboriginal languages, art forms, song and dance, and ecology and then used these skills to produce works.  In the Arts NAIDC 2015 exhibition, these works are revisited.

Alongside the Coastal Connections works, the exhibition also features historical photographs, contributed by the local community, of local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.  The images show generations of well-known families from in the Gladstone Region and the exhibition aims to celebrate and teach about their culture. 

The Gladstone Regional Art Gallery & Museum is located on the corner of Goondoon & Bramston Streets, Gladstone and is open 10am - 5pm, Monday to Saturday with FREE admission.  Please RSVP to the official launch by 5pm, Wednesday 1 July 2015, as light refreshments will be served after formalities.

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