Thank you to everyone who joined us at our David Hunter Memorial Lecture. Our speakers gave us a lot to think about. Our key note speaker, and National Director of ANTAR, Blake Cansdale, talked about truth telling and truth listening, and how important it is to find and value truth when seeking justice. Following up, Prof Chris Cunneen and Dr James Beaufils provided an overview of their very challenging findings on the over-representation of First Nations People in the ACT criminal justice system. Thanks also to Selina Walker for welcoming us to Country and to Paula McGrady for chairing the lecture.
Unfortunately there is no recording from our lecture this year. However, the page for the lecture on our website has lots of information and we will be adding more notes soon. https://antaract.org.au/dhml-2025-truth-telling/. For now, here are some pictures from the event.
This will be our last full newsletter for the year. Our best wishes for for an enjoyable summer break, special times with friends and family, before another year of working together for justice and rights for First Nations people. If you are buying presents over the season, we encourage you to use this opportunity to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses whenever possible – there are so many wonderful gifts celebrating the art and culture of First Nations peoples.
ANTaR ACT Organising Group
The next meeting of the ANTaR ACT organising group will be a dinner to mark the end of the year, with brief discussion of business. All who have participated in or supported ANTaR ACT activities during the year are welcome to join us. The dinner will be at Ainslie Football Club at 6pm on Monday 8 December. If you would like to join us, please RSVP to: info@antaract.org.au, as we will need to know who is joining us for our booking.
Access to health services for Aboriginal people in North Canberra
This petition, sponsored by Shane Rattenbury, calls on the government to allocate funds to address the alarming shortfall in access to health services by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the northern suburbs of Canberra. You can sign the petition here: https://epetitions.parliament.act.gov.au/details/e-pet-065-25.
Events coming up
Giiyong Festival
Saturday 22 November, 11am – late, Jigamy (just north of Eden)
Multi-art form festival celebrating traditional and contemporary Aboriginal culture through dance, art, music, film, theatre, food, sport, workshops and cultural tours.
For more information: www.giiyong.com.au/
GIRA – Birdz and Fred Leone
Sunday 23 November, 7-9pm, Smiths Alternative
GIRA (meaning fire in Butchulla) is the new EP from cousins Birdz and Fred Leone. Grounded in culture, truth-telling, and unapologetic spirit, this show keeps the fire alive for generations to come and challenges so-called ‘Australia’ to reckon with it. To celebrate the release of GIRA, Birdz and Fred Leone will be embarking on an East Coast run of shows in November.
For more information and bookings: https://www.smithsalternative.com/events/birdz-and-fred-leone-93578?d=23%2F11%2F2025+7%3A00%3A00+PM
Djirra’s Annual 16 Days of ACTIVEism Walk in Canberra
Tuesday 25 November, 7am – 8:30am, Lake Burley Griffin
Join Djirra and Sisters in Spirit for a 5km walk along Lake Burley Griffin, to amplify Aboriginal women’s voices during the 16 Days of ACTIVEism. This annual walk, organised by Djirra, is taking place during the UN’s global 16 Days of Activism campaign to end gender-based violence. This year, we’re excited to be partnering with local Aboriginal organisation Sisters in Spirit.
For more information and to register: https://events.humanitix.com/djirra-activeism-walk-canberra.
The Gathering
The Street is hosting two performances as part of Australian National University’s First Nation’s Composer’s Gathering.
Singing Stone
Friday 28 November, 7.30pm, The Street, 15 Childers St, City West
Renowned Melbourne ensembles Ensemble Three and the Lyrebird Brass will be playing music by luminaries in First-Nations Australian composition.
For more information and bookings: https://www.thestreet.org.au/shows/gathering
Nucoorilma
Saturday 29 November, 7.30pm, The Street, 15 Childers St, City West
Audiences are in for a treat with Australia’s leading new music group Ensemble Offspring, Nardi Simpson and Samoan composer/performer Dr Opeloge Ah Sam. Ensemble Offspring will be performing works by First Nations’ composers including Brenda Gifford, Troy Russell, Elizabeth Sheppard, and Nardi Simpson among others.
For more information and bookings: https://www.thestreet.org.au/shows/gathering-0
Rock for Reconciliation
Saturday 29 November, 11am – 7pm, Stage 88, Commonwealth Park
Rock for Reconciliation created by Senior Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Violet Sheridan, is a special, First Nations–led event, bringing our community together for a day of music, traditional dance, cultural showcases, art, and great food. More than that, it will be a chance to share stories, connect, and continue the journey toward healing, unity, and reconciliation.
Following the hurt and division caused by the referendum’s defeat, this event offers a space for healing, dialogue, and celebration. Through powerful performances, cultural showcases, and shared experiences, it honours the roadmap laid out in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
For more information (free event, registration appreciated): https://visabel.eventsair.com/rock-for-reconciliation/
5th National Indigenous Art Triennial: After the Rain – Opening Weekend
Saturday 6 December, 10.30am – 5pm, National Gallery of Australia
Celebrate the opening of the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial: After the Rain. Meet the artists, join a workshop, listen to a panel talk and gather in the gardens for music and carols – Blak Christmas style!
For full program of events, see: https://nga.gov.au/events/opening-weekend/, and read more about the exhibition below, along with other great exhibitions around Canberra featuring First Nations artists.
Exhibitions
Maree Clarke: Seeing the Invisible
To 23 November 2025, Canberra Museum + Gallery, Cnr London Cct and City Square, Canberra City
Maree Clarke – Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wamba/Mutti Mutti/Boonwurrung multi-disciplinary artist – presents a group of newly made supersized scale Reed Necklaces. Their giant size pays tribute to the cultural strength that the original object holds, compelling us to notice its beauty and the power of its story, and to also acknowledge the scale of the loss felt by her people.
Clarke’s research into the history of these objects has seen her travel extensively nationally and internationally to research and investigate holdings of cultural materials in institutional and private collections. With this background, Clarke was invited to visit Canberra and spend time on Country with the Ginninderry reed necklace that was made in 1862 by Aboriginal girls and gifted to Emma Minnie Palmer on the eve of her wedding. The necklace is now on display in the Canberra /Kamberri exhibition on loan from Catherine Palmer.
For more information: www.cmag.com.au/exhibitions/maree-clarke
First Nations exhibitions at the National Gallery
Five displays celebrating First Nations art and culture opened at the National Gallery of Australia in October. These displays feature the Hermannsburg School pioneered by Western Arrarnta artist Albert Namatjira, the story of the Seven Sisters, the art and culture of the Aurukun Community, life in the Hot Tropics, and the activism and resistance of Talking Blak.
Kulata Tjuta: Tirkilpa
To 29 March 2026, Level 1, Gallery 15, National Gallery of Australia
Kulata Tjuta is an ongoing cultural maintenance project that shares the skills of carving and making the punu kulata (wooden spear) across generations. Kulata Tjuta: Tirkilpa is the largest and most significant installation of the culturally important and visually spectacular Kulata Tjuta (Many Spears) Project. Like others in the series, it is rooted in age-old traditions, knowledge and skills that are designed around keeping Country and culture strong. The artistic outcomes take the form of large-scale, multi-disciplinary installations which incorporate film, sound, live performance and other artistic collaborations.
For more information, see: https://nga.gov.au/exhibitions/kulata-tjuta-tirkilpa/.
5th National Indigenous Art Triennial: After the Rain
Saturday 6 December to 26 April 2026, Level 1, Gallery 12, National Gallery of Australia
After the rain there are always new beginnings.
The 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial, After the Rain, features 10 large-scale, immersive and multi-disciplinary installations that celebrate inter-generational legacies and cultural warriors of the past, present and future.
The Triennial brings together commissioned work by established and emerging First Nations artists from across Australia, creating an important platform for art and ideas.
Each iteration of the Triennial is led by a First Nations curator with an original vision.
Artistic Director for the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial is Tony Albert, Girramay/Yidinji/Kuku-Yalanji peoples, one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists.
Albert weaves together projects by Alair Pambegan, Aretha Brown, Blaklash, Dylan Mooney, Hermannsburg Potters, Iltja Ntjarra Art Centre and Vincent Namatjira, Jimmy John Thaiday, Naminapu Maymuru-White, Thea Anamara Perkins, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and Grace Kemarre Robinya, and Warraba Weatherall to tell stories through the universal language of visual art.
For more information, see: https://nga.gov.au/exhibitions/fifth-national-indigenous-art-triennial/
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.