If you’re ever gifted the good fortune to head out for a game of two-up with Uncle Badger Bates on a Friday night in Broken Hill you’ll see firsthand the magic he holds, and most of all how much Unc has in the tank. I’ve been privileged to do this several times during visits to my Barkandji homelands, and I’ve almost always struggled to stay ‘til stumps. Not so for Uncle Badger whose passion for the spin and his never-ending energy to talk and laugh and tell incredible stories puts all us ‘young ones’ to shame. Hosted by the famous Palace Hotel, two-up is one of the many quirks of my Mum’s hometown, being the only place in Australia where this game is played legally every Friday night, year-round: The Wild West.

Mark-making in all its interpretations is at the core of everything Teho Ropeyarn enacts through his art practice. He might even agree that mark-making is his purpose.

We can ask why did the first being make the first purposeful mark ever, anywhere? For remembrance, which is sharing knowledge. For First Nations peoples, for 65,000+ years, remembrance is manifest in the complex systems we pass on for Knowledge, Kinship (Moiety) and Lore.

Our culture and traditions were mostly passed down orally through the generations and were also recorded in our sacred rock art painting, engraving and carvings. We made artefacts, masks and canoes.

When Moa Arts (Ngalmun Lagau Minaral) started in 1999 our major objective was to record and preserve the cultural knowledge so that it would be available for future generations of Torres Strait Islanders. We were very fortunate to have our artworks exhibited nationally and internationally, which built the foundation of the Torres Strait Islands’ print tradition.

How does one hold the legacy of their mother, teacher and friend?
How can one honour the stories that have been passed down?
How do you represent one and their stories and legacy when they are gone?
When they are gone, but still here?

Laurel Nannup is a Birdiya — a leader. Often working in partnership with her son Brett Nannup, the duo have masterfully utilised the print medium to hold and transmit their Noongar culture. Their work tells the stories of our Nyittiny — cold times or creation time, while also investigating and unveiling notions of place, self and one’s own personal stories. Many of Nan Laurel’s works tell her story of childhood and upbringing; what it meant to live in a white family’s home, the story of her mum taking her from Carrolup Native Settlement as a baby to live in Pinjarra, until she was taken.

Loreto Prison
1-.2.'76

Dear Mum & Dad,

How are youse? I’m fine. I settled into school really well. Once I got on the plane I was right. Haven’t shed a tear or been homesick since I left A/S [Alice Springs] Airport…I’ve only been back at school a few days & I’ve been in trouble twice. Troubles my name. Last night Mary nearly made the bed collapse. Mary & I sleep in a bunk with me up top. This was after lights out. Sister Strict heard & she came roaring back in & Mary & I were sitting laughing like two hyenas. Was she mad! Sister Domonic told me off tonight. Stupid old bat!! Eric rang tonight. Telling me about the rain etc. up there. Gee, just to think if we’d been say a day later into town we’d still be home. I’m ringing this weekend - probably...How’s the animals? Especially the horses. Say hello to Tycho, Jinka & Blue for me. How’s my boyfriend (Explorer) going? Are his cuts healing well? Is Sabrina filling out? The rain came in time to put feed in the mares paddock. I suppose the rain puts a stop to all ideas about mustering etc? Hint: How about home in Easter. Christmas, Birthday present rolled into one. Love it…I’m trying hard at school Dad. Still want to go home after 3rd Year.

Lots of Love,
You Know Who (Convict at Loreto Prison)

I was living in Yallingup in the southwest of Western Australia in early 1989 when I learnt via the community grapevine that a new arts program designed for Aboriginal women was soon to happen in Walyalup/Fremantle. I was intrigued, and as I was taking leave from my teaching degree, it was great timing.  

The traineeship was led by the dynamic and visionary Noongar woman, Margaret Drayton, and taught by leading women designers and technical experts; it sat under the banner of Women in Work, supported by the Department of Education Employment and Training, providing opportunities for women to gain skills and experience to help them enter the workforce—in this case, the arts industry.

We        are        told        to        listen        to        the        Country,
but have you ever spoken to it?
Have you read Natalie Harkin’s poems to sheoak trees
or called out to birds that flood the skies above you
or touched the exposed face of a mountain to announce to it your presence?
I have.
These individual acts are spiritual, and effect loving communication
between us and Country.

Our people know the strongest reciprocity to Country is enacted through collective communication. Be it dancing, singing or any mass cultural gathering of mob. The collective spirit we can raise is more powerful than any individual action. It is essential we continue to communicate with Country, just as our old people have in the forever. Country wants us to speak, sing and create for it and for ourselves. Together we must animate our relationship to keep Country and community strong and healthy. For mob, even the smallest action of acknowledging Country is ceremony, and the collective conjuring of spirit is the ultimate form of storytelling.