THE CITY of Greater Bendigo will open a permanent First Nations Gallery at the Bendigo Visitors Centre.
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Djaa Djuwima, or "Show, Share Country" in English, will address Indigenous art and culture underrepresentation.
Advocates have called for an Indigenous gallery for years, mayor Andrea Metcalf said.
"I have no doubt that this will be a significant cultural destination for Greater Bendigo residents and visitors," she said.
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The opening comes in the same week that a new owner of fellow Pall Mall building the Beehive mooted gallery plans of their own.
That person is considering a gallery up the top and a hospitality venue on the ground floor but is yet to reveal detailed plans.
The new First Nations gallery will showcase Culture, art and storytelling, Yorta Yorta and Wemba Wemba woman Aunty Lyn Warren OAM said.
"Through different works produced from artefacts, paintings to weaving, this new gallery will strengthen the voice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, customs and stories that will deepen and enrich our region's cultural experiences and create better understanding," she said.
Aunty Lyn is a member of Wartaka, a creative group that advised on the gallery's development, which was founded by Bendigo Venues and Events First Nations Arts Officer Janet Bromley.
Ms Bromley - a Yorta Yorta woman - will curate the gallery's three exhibitions a year.
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The council says the new gallery is vital to Reconciliation.
"Djaa Djuwima is an exciting and important cultural step in reconciliation, to better understand, recognise and respect the living culture and creativity of our Traditional Custodians of the land," Cr Metcalf said.
First Nations creatives are invited to submit expressions of interest for the first exhibition which will open on Thursday November 24 and run until February 2023.
As part of the EOI, applicants are asked to respond to the theme Gutangarr Dja Dja Wurrung Djayi (which means "You are on/in Dja Dja Wurrung Country") by October 17.
For more information contact Ms Bromley on on 1300 002 642 or email arts.info@bendigo.vic.gov.au
