Glen Innes Indigenous artist Adele Chapman Burgess has submitted her painting "Family Gatherings" for the Arts North West NAIDOC Media Exhibition.
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The exhibition will feature works that follow this year’s theme of Songlines – The living narrative of our nation.
Mrs Chapman Burgess said her painting is about the journey home to country.
“The dotted lines are all the mobs coming home to country – using the Songlines that criss-cross the New England area,” she said.
“The large white area is the sacred place with men and women gathered around sharing, singing, learning and yarning.
“No matter where we are in this amazing country of ours, when in special times we are called together we make our way home. “
Mrs Chapman Burgess said it was important that communities share such things as ecological, economic and cultural knowledge and spiritual issues.
“Along the way we talk, we share, we learn about our lore, our moral society, our system of where we belong, our ceremonies, our kinship and why we look after our country,’ she said.
“The Songlines carry spiritual and cultural knowledge.
“It is through our trade routes our ‘dreaming tracks’ that connect us with country, without Songlines we would not exist as a whole. “
A limited edition photo book of the exhibition and a post card range featuring the art works will be made available to galleries across the region.