Gunhigal Nguambang Wiradyuri Mayiny (Plains Country Wiradyuri People).
Around 220 primary students from ten public schools across the Central West region of New South Wales (NSW), have been engaging with Wiradyuri art, culture and language as part of the HOME education outreach program running at Bathurst Regional Art Gallery (BRAG).
This major program runs over 20 weeks across three terms, and involves digital learning events and school visits to regional art galleries in Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, Tamworth and Albury.
The students participate in a virtual art making lesson with artist Reko Rennie and are led on a virtual excursion to the Art Gallery of New South Wales with artist Jonathan Jones. Other artists the students will study include Badger Bates, Lorraine Connelly-Northey and Euraba Paper Artists.
In June, ten schools visited Bathurst Regional Art Gallery to participate in a Wiradyuri language class with Aunty Jill Bower and a practical art making workshop with Nyree Reynolds.
The BRAG program will culminate with an exhibition titled Gunhigal Nguambang Wiradyuri Mayiny (Plains Country Wiradyuri People), compromising of artworks by the school students which will open on Friday 27 September.
BRAG Director, Sarah Gurich, said, “HOME offers primary school students in the Central West a unique opportunity to engage with Wiradyuri culture through contemporary art and language.
“Connecting, sharing and creating is central to stimulating awareness, understanding, and appreciation of Aboriginal culture in regional NSW.”
The HOME program aims to increase knowledge and understanding of the histories, cultures and experiences Aboriginal people as the first peoples of Australia.
“HOME provides all students with opportunities to develop deeper understanding of Aboriginal histories, cultures and languages.
“The program aims are directly aligned with the NSW Department of Education Aboriginal education policy.
The HOME program this year aligns with the 2019 UNESCO International year of Indigenous Languages, and is developed in partnership between the Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Arts Unit of the Department of Education, the Bathurst Wiradjuri elders, and Bathurst Regional Art Gallery.
The program is run in Wiradyuri as well as Kamilaroi/Gomeroi language group areas in 29 public schools across New South Wales.
In 2019, the program is being run at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Tamworth Regional Gallery, Murray Art Museum Albury and BRAG.
