More than 2000 school students began visiting Bendigo to take part in Reconciliation Week events yesterday.
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The events were organised in conjunction with the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation.
It saw Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo Library, Bendigo Art Gallery, the Science and Discovery Centre and Bendigo Town Hall hosting different activities that educate school children about Indigenous culture.
Echuca-based Aboriginal artist Damian Saunders taught children about Indigenous artwork and story telling.
Students then took time to write their own story and tell it using Indigenous drawings.
“I have been teaching them difference between dots and linework. A lot of people do think it's just dots,” he said.
“We also taught (the students) there's Aboriginal people in Victoria still practising it.
“It is the oldest storytelling form without using words.”
Mr Saunders has been an artist for almost 13 years. His grandmother is from Yorta Yorta country near Echuca while Bendigo is his grandfather’s country (Dja Dja Wurrung).
“(Reconciliation Week) is growing every year. We just want kids to understand about their backyard, their country around Bendigo and the area's importance,” he said.
“It’s not just for our culture but for their culture and their grandchildren's culture. We want them to have a look and know about their own country.”
Bendigo Art Gallery education officer Margot Feast said the gallery had never done Reconciliation Week events on such a large scale.
We just want kids to understand about their backyard, their country around Bendigo and the area's importance.
- Damian Saunders
“The students have been extremely involved. They are enthusiastic and mesmerised by the stories they have heard,” she said.
“We always have some of our Indigenous artworks on display and it is fantastic to work with the local Dja Dja Wurrung Corporation to bring it all together.
“It has been the first time I have got to work with an Indigenous artist like Damian before and is very complimentary to the Ulumbarra performance.”
Ulumbarra show returns to theatre
Bendigo’s newest theatre hosted a show for students as part of Reconciliation Week yesterday.
The performance – called Ulumbarra: Gather Together – is a collection of Indigenous performers, artists and musicians gathered together to present a work dedicated the Dja Dja Wurrung story and song.
It was commissioned for the opening of Ulumbarra Theatre in 2015 and has returned this year by popular demand.
Starring Uncle Jack Charles, Ulumbarra will be performed during the day for groups of school children as well as Thursday and Friday night for the public at Ulumbarra.
“We have done small events before but this one is unprecedented,” Capital Venues and Events manager David Lloyd said.
“It’s not just local schools, they are coming from Maryborough and Echuca, schools from different regions are coming together across clan lines and living the Ulumbarra name by coming to one spot.”