Our newsletter this month focuses on events around Canberra, including school holiday activities highlighting First Nations culture and history.
ANTaR ACT Organising Group update
Following our annual lecture last month, we are planning a range of meetings with ACT ministers and other stakeholders to follow up issues raised. We’ll provide updates in future newsletters. For more information about our 2024 David Hunter Memorial Lecture in March see: DHML 2024: ACT-ION! ACT for Indigenous Outcomes Now! – ANTaR ACT.
We welcome those who want to get more involved to join the ANTaR ACT organising group and be part of our ongoing advocacy and actions. Our regular monthly meetings are at 6pm on the second Monday of the month via Zoom, with the next one on Monday 13 May. In addition, next weekend we will have an in-person planning day: Sunday 14 April, from 2-5pm.
If you would like to join us in our advocacy and actions, please email info@antaract.org.au for more information.
Events and exhibitions
Dreams – Too Deadly Show
Friday 12 April, 9.30pm
Smiths Alternative, 76 Alinga Street, Civic
A night to showcase First Nation mob in Canberra with drag, comedy, singers all rolled into one deadly night.
More information and tickets: Too Deadly Night (smithsalternative.com)
Truth Be Told: Lest We Forget (2018)
Saturday 13 April, 2pm
James Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia
Descendants of Aboriginal soldiers who fought as part of the Palestine campaign in the First World War were among the hundreds of Australians who gathered in Israel in October 2017 to mark the 100-year anniversary of the battle of Beersheba. Directed by Erica Glynn, Truth Be Told: Lest We Forget journeys with some of these descendants to explore why this was such an important event.
Truth Be Told: Lest We Forget is presented in connection with Vincent Namatjira: Australia in colour at the National Gallery of Australia.
Free, booking essential. More information and bookings: Truth Be Told: Lest We Forget (2018), Directed by Erica Glynn – National Gallery of Australia (nga.gov.au)
Culture on the Move – Weaving workshops
Come and join Ronnie Jordan, a Kalkadoon Pitta Pitta woman who will share her traditional ecological knowledge with you.
Workshops held at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, Banksia Centre.
- Bush Animal Weaving Workshops – for ages 3+
Thursday 18 April and Friday 19 April, 10 am and 1 pm
Enjoy a hands-on experience where you and your child can each create a woven bush animal. The workshop inspires a connection to Aboriginal culture, and both children and adults will learn techniques of the age-old art of traditional weaving.
More information and bookings: Culture on the Move – Bush Animal Weaving Workshops | Australian National Botanic Gardens (parksaustralia.gov.au)
- Traditional Weaving Workshop – for ages 15+
Saturday 20 April 10 am – 1 pm
These workshops are a hands-on experience empowering participants with a sense of connection and the opportunity to learn to connect to the oldest living culture in the world.
More information and bookings: Culture on the Move – Traditional Weaving Workshops | Australian National Botanic Gardens (parksaustralia.gov.au)
Vincent Namatjira: Australia in Colour
National Gallery of Australia, until 21 July 2024 | Free with ticket
This is the first survey exhibition of acclaimed Western Aranda artist Vincent Namatjira, charting his career, revealing the power of his painting and the potency of his words. Renowned for producing paintings laden with dry wit, Namatjira has established himself in the past decade as a celebrated portraitist and a satirical chronicler of Australian identity. His paintings offer a wry look at the politics of history, power and leadership from a contemporary Aboriginal perspective.
For more information and bookings: Vincent Namatjira Australia in colour (nga.gov.au).
- Vincent Namatjira All Stars Studio – kids activity
Who is your hero? Visit the All Stars Studio and make a trading card of someone you admire to add to the All Stars Wall of Fame.
Free, drop-in, limited capacity
Every weekend and public holiday and daily during school holidays 13–28 April, 10am – 4pm
For more information: Vincent Namatjira All Stars Studio – National Gallery of Australia (nga.gov.au)
Emily Kam Kngwarray
National Gallery of Australia, until 28 Apr 2024 | Ticketed
The National Gallery’s major exhibition on the life and art of Emily Kam Kngwarray brings together important works of Kngwarray’s career, from early vibrant batiks to her later monumental paintings.
For more information and bookings, see: Emily Kam Kngwarray – NGA.
- Art Cart: Leaf Game – kids activity
Join National Gallery staff in the exhibition foyer to learn about Emily Kam Kngwarray’s art and Country through stories, play, creative activities, and games such as the Leaf Game, a storytelling game using sand and leaves, which is played by members of the Utopia community and was played by Emily Kam Kngwarray as a child.
Children must be accompanied by a parent/carer. This program is designed for children up to 8 years.
Every weekend and daily during school holidays, 13–28 Apr 2024
Located in the exhibition foyer
Free, drop-in, limited capacity - Kids & Families Art Trail
Collect a free Kids & Families Art Trail when you visit the Emily Kam Kngwarray exhibition.
Inspired by Emily Kam Kngwarray’s life on Alhalker Country, the art trail invites children and their families to look at Emily Kam Kngwarray’s art together in the exhibition.
Brolga – A Queer Koori Wonderland
Friday 3 May, 6:30pm
Go find your costume box and get ready to shake your tail feathers at Brolga, this year’s iteration of the National Portrait Gallery’s 18+ late-night event!
First staged at Melbourne Fringe, Brolga is a collective takeover of the Gallery curated by Wiradjuri man and multidisciplinary artist Joel Bray, featuring First Nations and Queer DJs and performing artists. The Gallery will transform into an explorative wonderland of dance, art, film and performance, inspired by First Nations stories of the dancing brolga.
More information and bookings: Brolga, National Portrait Gallery
Canberra International Music Festival Finale – Mulanggari
Sunday, 5 May, 6:30 pm, at Snow Concert Hall, Canberra Grammar School Campus, Red Hill.
The Canberra International Music Festival closes with a celebration of the oldest living culture on earth. In the language of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, mulanggari means ‘alive’.
For more than twenty years, the Stiff Gins have sung in language about Indigenous culture and women’s empowerment. Now, in a unique Festival collaboration, Kaleena and Nardi join forces with the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam to perform the Gin’s tender songs like you’ve never heard them before – arranged by jazz legend Jonathan Zwartz. Three percussionists bring Holly Harrison’s new trio to life, while William Barton and Véronique Serret summon a final moment of magic alongside works by Nardi Simpson and Yuin composer Brenda Gifford.
More information and bookings: C15 Festival Finale – Mulanggari – Canberra International Music Festival (cimf.org.au).
Reconciliation Day 2024
Monday 27 May, 10 am to 3 pm, Commonwealth Park (** note new venue **)
Join a free family-friendly event showcasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, food, music and entertainment as part of National Reconciliation Week celebrations.
Reconciliation Australia’s theme for 2024 is Now More Than Ever. Be part of the conversation and activities and learn about our shared histories and cultures, to gain a deeper understanding of our national story and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures in this special Canberra community event.
See our next newsletter for more information about Reconciliation Week events.
ANTaR ACT wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which Canberra is situated, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. We wish to acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region. We would also like to acknowledge other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may visit this area.