Culture, art and womanhood

A UNIQUE opportunity to explore the significant intertwinement of culture, womanhood and artistry shared by First Nations women will be offered to the Geelong region community this month.

Geelong Arts Centre will host the panel of exceptional local First Nations women during a free Cultural Conversations livestream, Ba-Gurrk Murrup (Women’s Spirit, Past, Present and Future).

The online event will be facilitated Kiri Wicks, together with Deanne Gilson, Dr Jenny Murray-Jones and Allira Potter.

Kiri, a proud Noongar and Tuwharetoa woman who grew up on Yaburara Country, is also a mother of three, multi-media artist, curator, collaborator and mentor, who has had a collaborative artwork exhibited in Tokyo, curated multiple exhibitions and presented a solo show in Geelong.

Kiri is currently working at NIKERI Institute, Deakin University as both Partnerships Coordinator and in an Academic role within the Indigenous Knowledges team.

Allira is a proud Yorta Yorta woman, trained reiki practitioner, intuitive reader, energy healer, life coach, meditation guide and self-appointed ‘sassy, psychic witchy sister’.

Her practice is fully immersed in culture, cultural awareness and education, and she advocates for cultural diversity, body positivity, mental wellbeing, and conscious content that is both engaging and educational for her followers.

Deanne is an emerging elder and proud Wadawurrung woman of Aboriginal and Australian-English descent, an award-winning multi-media visual artist and early childhood and secondary school educator working freelance as a cultural consultant.

Deanne has also completed a PhD, looking at how art can play a role in revitalising women’s business, culture, identity, lost language and traditional ceremonial practices, that act is a way to empower and strengthen all Aboriginal people today.

Dr Jenny Murray-Jones is a Yorta Yorta-Baraparapa woman whose grandmother Mollie, and great aunt Bessie, were forcibly taken from their family around 1915 and raised in an institution, while the family worked at Redgate Station Balranald.

Jenny’s arts practice speaks a great deal about her family and their journey through the colonial period and into the present, with her PhD thesis titled ‘Indigenous Families Beyond the Voids of Colonial History’ documenting where they have come from and where they are now.

The registered school teacher is currently visual arts co-ordinator and lecturer at NIKERI and has exhibited widely at The Koorie Heritage Trust, Burrinja Gallery, NGV NAIDOC Exhibition, West Gippsland Art Centre, Maryborough Gallery, William Mora Gallery, Jiu Jian, Yangzi Province China and has many works in both private and public collections.

The inspiring panellists will explore what it means to be a successful First Nations woman in the 21st century, the legacy that each of these women look to create for future generations, the messages they wish to share with other young women, and how they interpret identity through culture and creative practice.

Proudly supported by the National Indigenous Australians Agency and Deakin University’s NIKERI Institute, the free 90-minute livestream provides an opportunity for Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal people of all gender identities to gather, join the conversation, ask questions and walk together.

Registration for the special event is essential, via geelongartscentre.org.au/whats-on/all-events/ba-gurrk-murrup-womens-spirit-past-present-and-future.

Geelong Arts Centre, which stands on a significant site for gathering, belonging and storytelling for the Wadawurrung people of the Kulin Nation, is committed to connecting First Peoples’ stories and voices with the broader community through meaningful artwork, performance and conversation.

To learn more about Geelong Arts Centre’s Reconciliation Action Plan, visit geelongartscentre.org.au/about-us/first-peoples/