We are just through Reconciliation Week – the highlight was being part of the Walk for Truth, to see Travis Lovett deliver his letter written on kangaroo skin to the Prime Minister. This was a powerful statement, a call to not shy away but to continue the difficult work, with a focus on truth telling. The request: to establish a national truth-telling process, built in genuine partnership with First Peoples. You can still sign the open letter at: https://www.walkfortruth.com/.
We were also very pleased to meet so many people at our stall on Reconciliation Day – thanks to everyone who stopped to chat and welcome to those who then signed up to this newsletter.
While Reconciliation Day felt like a celebration and a time of hope, we also recognise the many difficulties facing First Nations people in Canberra with real action far too slow. Selina Walker’s recent resignation as the Reconciliation Council co-chair, only announced on Reconciliation Day, was a stark reminder of this: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-01/act-reconciliation-council-selina-walker-resigns/106743894.
ANTaR ACT Organising Group
The next meeting of the ANTaR ACT organising group will be at 6pm on Monday 8 June, via Zoom (we’ll be meeting online over winter). If you would like to join us and be involved in our ongoing advocacy and actions, please contact us at antaract99@gmail.com or info@antaract.org.au.
Events Coming Up
Nagana Yarrbayn: The Water Protectors – film screening and panel discussion
Tuesday 9 June, 6pm-7.15pm, Hedley Bull Centre – Lecture Theatre 1, ANU
Nagana Yarrbayn: The Water Protectors is a 25-minute documentary following Senior Cultural Custodian Adrian Burragubba from the sacred Doongmabulla Springs to the courtroom, the community, and the national stage – documenting the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) fight to protect their ancestral waters from destruction by Adani’s Carmichael mine.
The film captures both the beauty of these ancient springs and the determination of the custodians to fulfil their sacred obligation under First Law to protect them. The film will be complemented by a panel discussion with Senior Cultural Custodian Adrian Burragubba, where we will discuss the importance of standing up to corporate power and the tactics civil society can use to do so. The event is in-person only.
All the money collected via ticket sales will go to the W&J Nagana Yarrbayn Cultural Custodians to support their legal fight against Adani’s mine. To further support them, you can also donate to their fundraising here.
For more information and bookings: https://regnet.anu.edu.au/event/nagana-yarrbayn-water-protectors-film-screening-and-panel-discussion.
Exhibition opening and artist talk: Reclamation
Thursday 11 June, 5.30 pm, Craft + Design Canberra, North Building, 180 London Cct (several exhibitions; open to Saturday 18 July)
Reclamation is a multidisciplinary exhibition by Wiradjuri weaver Jessika Spencer. Grounded in cultural knowledge and material practice, this exhibition brings together traditional fibres and contemporary expression to honour memory, identity and the enduring relationship to Country.
Jessika Spencer is a Wiradjuri woman from the Sandhills of Narrungdera (Narrandera) in New South Wales. A First Nations weaver, writer and activist, she has lived on Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country for more than a decade. Jessika’s practice is grounded in natural materials carefully gathered from Country, holding to a strong emphasis on land management and cultural heritage. Working across photography, writing and both contemporary and traditional weaving, Jessika explores and expresses her cultural identity.
For more information: https://craftanddesigncanberra.org/blogs/current-exhibitions/reclamation.
AAEE Reconciliation Week Learning Circle: Two paths strong – the story of Maam Giingana School
Thursday 11 June, 5pm – 6pm, online
Join Clark Webb, founder of the Maam Giingana School, the first bilingual Aboriginal-language school in NSW. He will share the vision that drove its creation and highlight the importance of building a school grounded in culture, identity, and strong educational outcomes.
For more information and registration: https://events.humanitix.com/aaee-learning-circle-two-paths-strong.
Exhibition openings: Dyeing Words, From Soil to Silk | Sistahood: Circles, Cycles and Spirals | Ngiaga (I/I am)
Friday 19 June, 6pm, Tuggeranong Arts Centre (exhibitions open to Saturday 15 August)
Marissa McDowell & Us Mob | Dyeing Words, From Soil to Silk
Dyeing Words – from Soil to Silk is a play on words from colonisation to re-birth and continuation of story, language and connection to country. This is a cross-pollination of multi-disciplinary art and cultural practices that combine First Nation poetry from Us Mob Writers, the longest running published First Nations Australian writers’ group, transferred onto large scale hand dyed silk.
This project builds on cultural leadership by fostering meaningful skill development by creating new and innovative ways of sharing stories by intertwining knowledge of country in contemporary art practices. This immersive experience combines video projection onto fabric documenting the process, poetry responding to country and a soundscape recording.
For more information: https://tuggeranongarts.com/marissa-mcdowell-us-mob-dyeing-words-from-soil-to-silk-19-jun-15-aug/.
Wallabindi & Harry’s Clarry | Sistahood: Circles, Cycles and Spirals
A powerful collaboration between Harry’s Clarry and Wallabindi with sisterhood at its core, this interactive collection of works is an exploration of culture, sistahood, motherhood, memories, trauma, resilience, creativity, love and history, through the symbolism of Circles and Spirals.
With a shared passion for sustainability, recycling, reusing and upcycling, 100% of the artworks showcased in this exhibit will be created from existing materials that would otherwise go to landfill. You will see furniture and other everyday items transformed into cathartic and emotionally expressive artworks.
Wallabindi is a contemporary Aboriginal (Wardandi Bibbulmun Noongar, Yamatji) and Burmese artist who has been creating on Ngunnawal Country for over 20 years. She is descended from the Wardandi Noongars of South Western Australia, with strong family connections up and down the WA coast.
Harry’s Clarry is a proud Gamilaraay woman born to a mother from the stolen generation, raised on Darug Country, and living on Ngunnawal Country since 2009. Healing connection to culture and breaking cycles through art.
For more information: https://tuggeranongarts.com/wallabindi-harrys-clary-sistahood-circles-cycles-and-spirals-19-jun-15-aug/.
Leilani Dewis | Ngiaga (I/I am)
Ngiaga (I/I am) draws on Leilani’s personal, cultural, spiritual and social connections, shaping an exhibition that traces the arc of life—from birth and living, to death and what lies beyond. Through this journey, the work explores the ways in which all aspects of existence—physical, emotional and spiritual—are interconnected.
For more information: https://tuggeranongarts.com/leilani-dewis-ngiaga-i-i-am-19-jun-15-aug/.
National Museum of Australia: Sharing Stories series – First Nations directions
Friday 26 June, 11am, National Museum of Australia, Lawson Crescent, Acton Peninsula
Dr Jilda Andrews is the Deputy Director, First Nations at the Museum. In this insightful presentation she will outline the Museum’s commitment to ensuring First Nations stories, material, content, perspective, culture and ideas are integrated throughout the work of the Museum. Hear how the Museum’s future strategy will safeguard communities as the central authorities in the interpretation and expression of their histories and cultural knowledge to deliver an inclusive national narrative.
For more information (free, bookings essential), see: https://my.nma.gov.au/52134/52135.
NAIDOC Week
This year marks the 50th anniversary of NAIDOC Week, and this is recognised in the theme 50 Years of Deadly.
For five decades, NAIDOC Week has celebrated the voices of our communities — steady, unapologetic, and proud. Each year, its themes have called for truth, celebrated culture, honoured resistance, and reminded the nation of who we are.
For more about the NAIDOC Week theme and events, see: https://www.naidoc.org.au/.
ACT NAIDOC Awards 2026
Saturday 4 July, 6pm – 11pm, QT Canberra
Come along for a sensational evening celebrating the ACT and regions Blakcellence! Join Canberra’s favorite play school host – Luke Carrol – for a night of inspiring stories, uplifting journeys and incredible achievements. Hit the dance floor with the deadly Soul and Stone belting out our favorite classics and a few fabulous originals too! Style up and contend for the prestigious Too Deadly Awards!
Ticket includes 3 course alternative menu (request dietary requirements when booking), tea and coffee. Limited drinks package and cash bar available.
For bookings (close Friday 26 June), see: https://events.humanitix.com/2026-act-naidoc-awards.
Canberra NAIDOC Week event
Tuesday July 7, 10am-2pm, Tuggeranong Community Centre
Join us for a fun day dedicated to recognising, celebrating, and supporting the achievements and contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the Canberra Region. The day is delivered through a joint initiative of Community Service organisations committed to working alongside and uplifting local communities.
For more information: https://canberranaidoc.org/.
NAIDOC in the North
Saturday 11 July, 11am – 2pm, Belco Arts, 118 Emu Bank Belconnen.
NAIDOC in the North 2026 at Belco Arts is an annual celebration of Ngunnawal and First Nations culture, creativity, and community. Featuring stalls by local and regional First Nations artists, performances from First Nations groups, and participation from Canberra-based community organisations, including Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs), Child, Health and Family Services. The event brings people together in a meaningful and engaging way.
ANTaR ACT will have a stall at this event – please come and say hello. We’ll have information about current issues, as well as books and items from First Nations creators.
For more information, see: https://www.belcoarts.com.au/naidoc-in-the-north-2026/ .
First Nations Experiences of Democracy
Monday 6 July to Monday 13 July, 2pm daily, Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House
On this tour you will hear stories of how First Nations Australians have created change in politics. Learn about the Wiradjuri elders who travelled 150km to attend the opening of Old Parliament House. Hear about the activists who campaigned for a voice in Federal Parliament and the accomplishments of Neville Bonner, the first Aboriginal Australian to be elected to parliament. Visit heritage spaces including the Prime Minister’s Office and the Senate Chamber and learn about the contributions of activists like Wenten Rubuntja, Charlie Perkins and Faith Bandler.
For more information and bookings: https://moadoph.ticketing.veevartapp.com/tickets/view/list/first-nations-experience-of-democracy-naidoc-week and https://www.moadoph.gov.au/visit/whats-on/tours/first-nations-experiences-of-democracy.
Thelma Plum – I Don’t Play That Song Anymore Tour
Thursday 16 July, 8pm, The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre
Thelma Plum is a Gamilaraay woman, musician and creator. She grew up in Brisbane and spent many of her childhood years on her grandparents’ farm in Delungra, a small country town in rural New South Wales. She has been making music her whole life and has told one chapter with her debut album Better in Blak a story about culture, heritage, love, and pain.
For this tour, Thelma Plum dusts off the acoustic guitar and songbook. She will be warming the hearts of Australia with her spellbinding storytelling, weaving her musical web around the country in duo format.
For more information and bookings see: https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/thelma-plum-2026/ and https://www.thelmaplum.com/.
Exhibitions
Wangka Wakaṉutja: The Story of the Papunya Literature Production Centre
To Sunday 11 October 2026, Level 1, Exhibition Gallery, National Library of Australia
Papunya is a remote Aboriginal community in the Western Desert region of the Northern Territory, and the birthplace of the internationally known Western Desert art movement. Between 1979 and 1990, the Papunya Literature Production Centre (PLPC) produced hundreds of Pintupi-Luritja bilingual books guided by the community’s Elders, among them pioneers of the Western Desert Art movement. The illustrated books were produced as literacy tools for local schoolchildren and tell stories of first contact, Dreamings, community life, plants, animals and more. Some are funny and wildly creative. Others are moving, dramatic and extraordinary.
‘Wangka Wakaṉutja’ is Pintupi-Luritja for ‘the story has been told’.
The exhibition, Wangka Wakaṉutja: The Story of the Papunya Literature Production Centre, brings the readers to life and builds on a recent exhibition on show at the Library and Archives NT in Darwin. It features stories, drawings, photographs, manuscripts, ephemera and oral histories from the collections of the Papunya community, Papunya School, National Library of Australia, Australian National University, and other private collections.
For more information, see: https://www.library.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/wangka-wakanutja.
Ngura Puḻka – Epic Country
To Sunday 23 August 2026, Level 1, Galleries 2-7, National Gallery of Australia
Ngura Puḻka – Epic Country is an artist-led project, showcasing major works by senior First Nations artists and collectives from the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, Coober Pedy and Tarntanya/Adelaide, in South Australia. These ambitious works depict Country while celebrating the powerful Tjukurpa (Aṉangu law/cultural stories) that lies within.
An epic project both in scale and scope, the creation of large-scale paintings reinforces artists’ connection to Country. Through stories and distinctive designs, they continue to strengthen their cultural knowledge, and knowledge of their homelands. Individual artists and women’s and men’s collectives bring their Tjukurpa to life on canvas – sometimes through explosions of colour, sometimes in a muted palette.
For more information, see: https://nga.gov.au/exhibitions/ngura-pulka-epic-country/.
Hermannsburg
To Sunday 23 August 2026, Level 1, Gallery 2B, National Gallery of Australia
The Hermannsburg School is an art movement pioneered by Western Arrarnta artist Albert Namatjira (1902–1959). This exhibition displays works by Namatjira, including painted spearthrowers, alongside watercolours by family members including sons Enos and Ewald Namatjira, son-in-law Benjamin Landara, and brother-in-law and ‘breakaway’ painter Otto Pareroultja. Ceramics by Judith Pungarta Inkamala, who grew up watching Namatjira paint, are displayed alongside pots by Carol Panangka Rontji, demonstrating the stylistic evolutions of the Hermannsburg School.
Featured works emphasise artists’ connections to Country and the diversity embedded within this landscape—from airy, tree-lined vistas to red, rocky escarpments and gorges. Finishes Sunday 23 August.
For more information, see: https://nga.gov.au/exhibitions/hermannsburg/.
ANTaR ACT acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which Canberra is situated, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region. We also acknowledge other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may visit this area.