CAN creates outstanding art by, for, and with communities, that tells their stories and shares their lived experience.
Scroll through the online gallery, watch a film, listen to a podcast and share in the history of all the different communities CAN has worked with. Utilise the map function to browse via location or use the drop down menu to refine search results.
WATCH
Ngaluk Waangkiny follows the journey of a courageous group of Aboriginal Elders living on Whadjuk Noongar boodja as they fight for respect, recognition and acknowledgement from the City of Perth.
Once banned from the city streets, these Elders now have a seat at the Council table and are making decisions that are quite literally changing the face of Boorloo - Perth.
Co-written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Poppy van Oorde-Grainger and acclaimed Noongar artist Ian Wilkes, this short film is rich with archival vision, personal histories and moments of profound change.
LISTEN
In this podcast series we explore the lives and experiences of Noongar Elders living in Boorloo (Perth).
Hosted by Noongar performer and story teller, Phil Walleystack, their stories reveal powerful and at times heartbreaking accounts of what it was like growing up Aboriginal in Australia, treated like outsiders and second class citizens on their own land.
Listen to our Elders as they share another layer of history – one that has always been there, just kept in the shadows.
Ni! means listen was produced by Community Arts Network in partnership with the City of Perth and with support from the ABC.
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This book is dedicated to the ten courageous, wise and trailblazing Elders who generously shared their life’s journey during this storytelling project.
Their triumphs over adversity, tireless fight for human rights and constant advocacy for respect and recognition leaves a powerful and lasting legacy.
We pay our respects to the Elders who passed during the making of this book and we thank them for gifting their stories so future generations can learn from them, heal and move forward.
This book shares images and vignettes of each of their lives. It serves to complement a series of in-depth podcast interviews featuring each Elder, and a short film documenting their reconciliation journey with the City of Perth.
Their stories, in their words – their legacy. Always was. Always will be. Aboriginal land.
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In partnership with Creative Recovery Network, CAN launched the Creating Well collaborative research report which is the culmination of a four-year research project, designed to harness the experience and wisdom of the community arts and cultural development (CACD) sector’s leading practitioners to grow a deeper understanding of the specific support needs for community-based artsworkers.
The report presented six key recommendations and clarified the consistent challenges faced in community-based practice and calls for the sector as a whole to evolve towards new standards of practice and a framework to better support practitioners in high performance work environments.
WATCH
Kabarli Maawit is an original Noongar Lullaby created by Tamara Jones, Charmaine Councillor and Phil Bartlett as part of CAN’s Noongar Lullabies program delivered online in 2020. During Community Arts Network’s Intercultural Lullabies project, this lullaby was translated into Tagalog, South Sudanese Arabic, Persian, Igbo, Esan, Indonesian, Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi by the community in Mandurah.
CAN partnered with the City of Mandurah to present this inaugural Intercultural Lullabies project.
We welcome you to learn the lullaby in multiple languages, join in and sing!
Download the accompanying songbook here: https://www.can.org.au/arts/artwork/intercultural-lullabies-songbook
The City of Mandurah is proud to support the Intercultural Lullabies project, as part of the Mandurah Arts Festival 2021 program of events.
Videography: Peter Cheng and Drew Kendell
WATCH
Rosie’s Song is an original Noongar Lullaby created by Charmaine Councillor as part of CAN’s Noongar Lullabies program delivered in Mandurah in 2019. During Community Arts Network’s Intercultural Lullabies project in 2021, this lullaby was translated into Tagalog and Visayan by the community in Mandurah.
CAN partnered with the City of Mandurah to present this inaugural Intercultural Lullabies project.
We welcome you to learn the lullaby in multiple languages, join in and sing!
Download the accompanying songbook here: https://www.can.org.au/arts/artwork/intercultural-lullabies-songbook
The City of Mandurah is proud to support the Intercultural Lullabies project, as part of the Mandurah Arts Festival 2021 program of events.
Videography: Peter Cheng and Drew Kendell
WATCH
Ngany Boodjar / My Country was created by Charmaine Councillor and Phil Bartlett and performed here by Phil Bartlett.
This song was shared during Community Arts Network’s Intercultural Lullabies project as a way of welcoming all communities to Noongar Country.
We welcome you to learn the song in Noongar, join in and sing!
Download the accompanying songbook here: https://www.can.org.au/arts/artwork/intercultural-lullabies-songbook
The City of Mandurah is proud to support the Intercultural Lullabies project, as part of the Mandurah Arts Festival 2021 program of events.
Videography: Peter Cheng and Drew Kendell
WATCH
Community Arts Network is proud to share the Mandurah Intercultural Lullabies performance!
Led by highly acclaimed Noongar musicians and language facilitators, Charmaine Councillor and Phil Bartlett, the Mandurah community has shone, building connection and understanding through song.
Together Mandurah community members performed together as one choir, singing lullabies in Noongar, Tagalog, South Sudanese Arabic, Persian, Igbo, Urdu and Hindi.
Enjoy this video and experience just some of the beauty of the event!
Download the accompanying songbook here: https://www.can.org.au/arts/artwork/intercultural-lullabies-songbook
The City of Mandurah is proud to support the Intercultural Lullabies project, as part of the Mandurah Arts Festival 2021 program of events.
Videography: Peter Cheng, Drew Kendell and Sepi’s Photography
READ
Intercultural Lullabies is the coming together of Noongar and culturally and linguistically diverse families and communities to share Noongar lullabies and create lullabies in multiple languages.
Community Arts Network (CAN) is excited to partner with the City of Mandurah to present this inaugural Intercultural Lullabies project.
We welcome you to join in and sing!
Intercultural Lullabies builds on CAN’s Noongar Lullabies. Since 2015, CAN has been delivering a Noongar language revival arts program with Noongar families. The program has supported communities with preserving and promoting Noongar language and culture, moving towards a future where the next generation of Noongar children are lulled to sleep with songs in their traditional language.
Under the guidance of highly acclaimed Noongar musicians and language facilitators, Charmaine Councillor and Phil Bartlett, community groups
in Mandurah were invited to participate in Intercultural Lullabies. Over a three month period a series of workshops took place where groups created their own versions of Noongar lullabies, translating them into their own languages.
This participatory experience provided a way of transferring knowledge between community members with an overall aim of improving inclusion and understanding between people throughout the City of Mandurah.
This songbook is a celebration of this sharing and an opportunity for all of the community to learn languages and come together, as one, through song.
GALLERY
The Mavis Phillips nee Walley Exhibition was launched at the Perth Centre for Photography on Friday, 14th May 2021. An exhibition of rare images taken by one of Australia's first Aboriginal photographers Mavis Phillips nee Walley and curated by her daughter Dallas Phillips.
This moment was a dream come true for Dallas Phillips who always wanted her mother's photos honoured in a professional exhibition.
WATCH
This slideshow captures just some of the photos from the Mavis Phillips nee Walley Collection.
Mavis Phillips is one of Australia’s earliest known Indigenous photographers. Through her box brownie camera Mavis captured the everyday moments of her community in Goomalling, Western Australia from the 1930s.
Her photographs capture joy, spontaneity, pride and hope from the thriving wheatbelt Aboriginal community. The photos are extremely rare in that they capture daily life from a Noongar perspective.
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The Mavis Phillips nee Walley Collection was exhibited at the Perth Centre for Photography through a partnership between Perth Centre for Photography, Community Arts Network and the State Library of Western Australia.
Mavis Phillips (nee Walley) is one of Australia’s earliest known Indigenous photographers. Through her box brownie camera Mavis captured the everyday moments of her community in Goomalling, Western Australia from the 1930s.
Her photographs capture joy, spontaneity, pride and hope from the thriving wheatbelt Aboriginal community. The photos are extremely rare in that they capture daily life from a Noongar perspective.
GALLERY
These colourful language posters feature iconography and language important to Walyalup and surrounds created during Place Names Walyalup.
Through the decoding and sharing process, Noongar community created 35 artworks featuring iconography important to the Walyalup area. CAN has worked to honour the work of the community by creating posters that share their artwork and act as a fantastic educational resource that can be used to promote Noongar culture, heritage and creativity.
Order your copy online today or pick a copy up from the CAN office.
Poster layout based on CAN's Andalup Djedi poster by Rose Megirian
GALLERY
This stunning interactive digital map enables you to explore the five place names with a simple click.
Community members were recorded by videographer Peter Cheng sharing the story and meaning of each placename decoded during the process.
Each of the animated icons links to video. You’ll be taken on a guided tour of each of these well known local locations, and you’ll learn about the ancient creation story that links them all.
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Place Names Walyalup is an inclusive community arts and cultural development project produced by CAN in partnership with Moodjar Consultancy, the Noongar community and the City of Fremantle.
Inspired by Professor Len Collard’s seminal research, CAN and Moodjar Consultancy have developed a community-led, creative model for decoding the ancient meanings embedded in placenames.
GALLERY
Noongar artists Rod Garlett and Nathan Corunna worked alongside community artists Darren Hutchens and Lawry Halden to paint the Guildford Bridge Street station.
They were helped in the design and painting by members from the Moorditj Maaman Men's Group and Indigo Junction's Strong Fathers program.
This project was delivered in partnership with Water Corporation and the City of Swan.
WATCH
This beautiful mural celebrates the community’s connection to water, water conservation and the important role this plays in the future of Western Australia. CAN's project manager Darren Hutchens worked with Water Corporation to create a project that has been designed by and developed with the community. Working in partnership with community groups, including Edmund Rice Centre WA and White Lion WA, and artist Lawry Halden.
GALLERY
In partnership with Water Corporation CAN transformed an everyday pump station into an artistic masterpiece that captured local and cultural perspectives on water use, flora and fauna and the local water story.
CAN’s Project Manager Darren Hutchens Artist and Lead Artist Lawry Halden - worked with young people from Whitelion WA and Edmund Rice Centre WA to develop a design for the water corporation pump house in Esperanto Harris Gibb Reserve in Westminster.
So far, 40 Water Corporation electrical cabinets and pump stations across the State have been transformed into community artworks through the Splash of Colour program.
GALLERY
Andalap Djedi (Busselton Jetty) is a colourful language poster featuring a collage of painted sea creatures and their Noongar names.
CAN engaged a local language consultant to work alongside Busselton Primary School students and 22 community members to create the artwork.
The poster is a popular educational resource used to promote Noongar culture, heritage and creativity, with the poster available to be distributed far and wide by the CAN team.
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Kwobadak Maar (Beautiful Hands) presents the art and stories of the Northam Yorgas. Across October and November 2016, CAN ran an art and textiles project with the Northam Yorgas who shared their stories of the Wheatbelt through their stunning textile prints, woven sculptures and crafted objects.
Kwobadak Maar is dedicated to Norma Garlett (1955 – 2017).
The artists presented in this publication include Elaine Dickie, the late Norma Garlett, Frances Gillespie, Glenda Kickett, Janet Kickett, Yvonne Kickett, Cindy Moody, Deborah Moody and Sonia Stack.
GALLERY
The Kwobadak Maar (Beautiful Hands) exhibition took over an empty shop front in the main street of Northam over the summer of 2016/ 2017.
The exhibition featured works by Elaine Dickie, the late Norma Garlett, Frances Gillespie, Glenda Kickett, Janet Kickett, Yvonne Kickett, Cindy Moody, Deborah Moody and Sonia Stack.
Across October and November 2016, CAN ran an art and textiles project with the Northam Yorgas who shared their stories of the Wheatbelt through their stunning textile prints, woven sculptures and crafted objects.
The Yorgas were invited to each create craft piece that shared a personal or local story. The Yorgas were supported to work with their existing skills and explore new craft techniques as they stitched, printed and wove to develop pieces that shared stories of country, childhood, and memories of Elders.
WATCH
Bilya Kep Waangkiny (River Water Stories) is a mesmerising performance of Noongar poetry accompanied by live music.
Bringing together new and known poetic voices, the performance weaves through verse musings and deeply personal stories from the Avon River, the Wheatbelt and beyond.
The poems featured in this series were written during CAN's Rekindling Stories on Country creative workshops with the Northam community.
Their live performances were complimented by musical accompaniments by professional musicians Ian Wilkes on Didgeridoo, Julia Watson on Violin, Anna Sarcich on Cello and Mark Turner on Guitar.
GALLERY
An empty shop in the main street of York was converted to a gallery space for Clay Boodjar: Art and stories from the York community. Presented as part of the Act-Belong-Commit 2018 York Festival, the exhibition celebrates the work that has evolved from a year of community led art workshops with the York Noongar community.
Featuring the Noongar Farm Workers hand-built clay sculptures, the Welcome to Balardong map and animation, and mixed-media collage works.
Art and stories by Gail Airey, the late Colin Boundry, Alan Jones, Merlene Della Jones, Deborah Moody, Merle Narkle -Goodwin, Audrey Nettle, Graham Nettle, Lois Ralph, Steven Aiton, Jade Bateman, Dianne Jones, Bradley Kickett, Karlee Parnham, Kadeena Ryan, Myah Day, Indianna Kiernan, Zaniia Ryder, Breeanna Slater, Letisha Thompson & Jamelia Ugle.
WATCH
The Welcome to Balardong animation was produced during CAN's Rekindling Stories on Country program in York.
Director Mat Sav together elements from the program to create an impactful short film that shares previously untold stories about Noongar life in and around York.
Stop-motion animated sequences were created by animator Steve Aiton and Noongar artist Bradley Kickett, which were then blended with narration by community storytellers.
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Moorditj Maar Boodjar is a celebration of six Noongar Elders who came together to share stories and create clay sculptures that reference personal and family experiences in farming on Ballardong country, the Wheatbelt and beyond.
These works were showcased in CAN’s Clay Boodjar exhibition in September and October 2018 as part of the Act-Belong-Commit 2018 York Festival.
It was important to the group to craft their stories with local clay.
A bucket of red clay was sifted through and gathered from a pit behind the York Residency Museum. This was done with permission and supervision of Elder Merle Narkle Goodwin, and the museum. It was the very same clay pit that convicts once dug to make the bricks used to build the town. This was then blended with clay from local potter Stewart Scambler’s York property and Australian commercial clay, ready to be sculpted by the participants.
GALLERY
In 2019, CAN partnered with Aboriginal football and leadership group the Djinda Falcons to deliver Boola Boola Birds, a multigenerational creative arts project that honoured Western Australia’s distinctive native birdlife.
Artists are credited with their Boola Boola Bird.
Project facilitators and artists Carol Foley, Lea Taylor, Matthew McVeigh and Steven Finch guided participants through the process of crafting woven birds and writing poems about birdlife, sharing practical skills and insights along the way.
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The Banksia is Lit is a collection born from sharing and listening, with words put to paper along the way.
For six weeks in 2018 and seven weeks in 2019, CAN ran a series of community
poetry workshops through its Rekindling Stories on Country
program. Every Saturday morning, Noongar community
members met at the Centre for Stories in Northbridge to
explore telling stories in poetic form.
Noongar Country in its various seasons, near and far, feature in these poems: summer afternoons at Scarborough Beach, rainy days near the Perth Hills, road trips through Ballardong Country, rooftop views over Northam. Poems of grief live alongside poems of contentment, exposure alongside shelter, roads alongside tracks, and creeks. These poems take you cloud-watching and train-riding, through worlds inside and out. The banksia features here too: in yarning circles the dried cone is lit and passed from person to person, an emblem of sharing and listening. Memory and emotion live in these pages, committed to paper by seven individuals discovering their voices in this form, and finding that it’s strong.
The poems are emanating out into the world. The banksia is lit.
GALLERY
Ngala Daa-Waangkiny unified and amplified the voices of Rekindling Stories on Country participants with an innovative group exhibition and performance held during NAIDOC Week celebrations in 2019 at The State Theatre Centre of WA.
The event opened with a Welcome to Country by Doolan Leisha and Walter Eatts with poetry readings from Alf Taylor, Deb Moody, Cyndy Moody, Leanne Eades Garlett, Tony Walley, Jillian Moody, Sharon Wood-Kenney, Paige Kenney and Daniel Hansen.
The exhibition included an installation of woven birds from the Boola Boola Birds project, created in partnership with the Djinda Falcons, and screenings of the Bilya Kep Waangkiny Northam performance.
GALLERY
The Kep Koorliny Poets performed a poetry reading at the Moon Cafe in Northbridge in December 2019.
This was the culmination of several weeks of poetry workshops for new and emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander poets.
This reading featured poetry from headliners Beni Bjah, Nita Jane and Barbara Hostalek as well as readings from new poets including Cyndy Moody, Jillian Moody and Daniel Slater among many others.
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Alwatan to Home centred on the women’s experiences of leaving the place they once called home, alwatan, to make a new life on Noongar country. Over several weeks, textile/embroidery artist Susie Vickery and jewellery-maker Sultana Shamshi supported the women to unpack their deeply personal journeys and translate them to embroidered artworks.
The embroidered artworks are documented in the الوطن الى البيت Alwatan to Home book, which details how wars and changing governments forced many of the women to flee their homelands and sail across the world in order to seek a better life for their families in Australia.
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Rooted in Freedom honours the expressions of Bla(c)k women writers currently residing within the Bibbulmun Nation. This collective body of work navigates the intersections between race, gender, personal narrative and the longing for freedom. It emerged from a series of writing workshops, guided by Dr Elfie Shiosaki, Brianne Yarran and N'Gadie Roberts, and was developed through the weaving of communities and the exchange of stories. This book is a celebration of Bla(c)k literature, a call for collective liberation and an offering of gratitude to the work of other Bla(c)k women who came before.
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During Lotterywest Dream Plan Do the Equatoria Community developed a cookbook of culturally significant dishes which are shared at important events, such as child-naming ceremonies, marriages and other celebrations. Joyce Jakudu and Eunice Anyek led nine Equatorian communities and over 300 participants through the process of selecting dishes, writing down recipes and the associated cultural stories, recipe-testing, and sharing the dishes at community gatherings. The cookbook was launched at a community celebration in March 2021, which 450 people attended.
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This Kwobidak Maawit Songbook is the accompaniment to Kwobidak Maawit Album allowing you to sing or play along to the lullabies.
Kwobidak Maawit is a compilation of beautiful, heartfelt songs from families in Bunbury, in the South West of Western Australia. In the third edition of Lullabies, 19 songs were written and performed on site at Roelands Village in June 2018 and further developed in the following weeks with additional musical production. Written and performed in Noongar by each participant, the lullabies are a celebration of family and community life, and a legacy for future generations.
LISTEN
A compilation of intimate Noongar songs from families in Mandurah, in the South West of Western Australia. In the fourth edition of Lullabies, seven songs were written at Nidjalla Waangan Mia in Mandurah and recorded at the John Butler Studio at Fairbridge, followed by further development and additional musical production by Charmaine Councillor and Phil Bartlett. Written and performed in Noongar by each participant, the songs are a celebration of the spirit of the land, ocean and love. The project was developed and delivered with local partners Nidjalla Waangan Mia and The Girls Academy at Coodanup College. The album was launched at Winjan Aboriginal Centre in December 2019, in partnership with the Winjan Aboriginal Corporation.
READ
This Nganyang Nyit Maawit Songbook is the accompaniment to Nganyang Nyit Maawit Album allowing you to sing or play along to the lullabies.
A compilation of intimate Noongar songs from families in Mandurah, in the South West of Western Australia. In the fourth edition of Lullabies, seven songs were written at Nidjalla Waangan Mia in Mandurah and recorded at the John Butler Studio at Fairbridge, followed by further development and additional musical production by Charmaine Councillor and Phil Bartlett. Written and performed in Noongar by each participant, the songs are a celebration of the spirit of the land, ocean and love.
The project was developed and delivered with local partners Nidjalla Waangan Mia and The Girls Academy at Coodanup College. The album was launched at Winjan Aboriginal Centre in December 2019, in partnership with the Winjan Aboriginal Corporation.
READ
Djinda Djinda – Noongar Lullabies Choir was a collaboration between two like-minded arts companies – CAN and The AWESOME Festival.
Together we are using the arts to create transformation and we both want to support communities to preserve and promote Noongar language and culture.
By learning and sharing the lullabies in this song book, you are helping to wake the language gently... taking a step towards a future where the next generation of Noongar children are lulled to sleep with songs sung in their traditional language.
WATCH
Experience Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in the traditional language of South Western Australia.
Djinda Djinda Kanangoor is a Noongar version of one of the much loved children's lullaby - Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
The song was written and recorded by Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse as part of Community Arts Network's Lullabies—a music art and language program designed specifically for Aboriginal families to encourage language revival.
With less than 450 fluent Noongar speakers left, we hope this lullaby will inspire people to learn this beautiful, ancient language, so future generations of children can grow up hearing lullabies sung in their traditional language.
WATCH
This brilliant video captures just some of the moort (family), koort (heart) and woonya (love) from the Ngaalang Moort: Noongar Lullabies from Home launch at Fremantle Arts Centre.
It was a special evening under the trees as each lullaby from the album was shared with family, friends and the wider community. Thank you to Peter Cheng from Acid Flicks for capturing this perfect highlight of the event. Watch it and get a taste of what it was like to be there - moorditj!
WATCH
In 2020, when the world was turned on its head and we couldn’t all meet together, CAN took the Lullabies program online and directly into people’s homes.
During these online sessions, participants joined facilitators Charmaine Councillor and Phil Bartlett online to learn the basics of Noongar language and songwriting.
These words and phrases were shared during these online sessions.
We acknowledge that the spelling and interpretation of Noongar language can vary greatly from community to community.
LISTEN
Ngaalang Moort (Our Family) is a compilation of stunning lullabies created by Noongar families in 2020, when the world was turned on its head and we couldn’t all meet together. CAN took the program online and directly into people’s homes, where these talented participants joined facilitators Charmaine Councillor and Phil Bartlett online to learn the basics of Noongar language and songwriting. Once everyone had their song written and learnt, they recorded their vocals at home ready for final studio production by Charmaine, Phil and sound engineer / musician, Sean Lillico. The conditions make this album an even more remarkable achievement by everyone involved!
These 15 songs reflect the personal experiences of the people involved. They are a celebration of moort (family), koort (heart), woonya (love) and a legacy for all.
READ
This Ngaalang Moort Songbook is the accompaniment to Ngaalang Moort Album allowing you to sing along to the lullabies and learn the story behind the songs.
Ngaalang Moort (Our Family) is a compilation of stunning lullabies created by Noongar families in 2020, when the world was turned on its head and we couldn’t all meet together. CAN took the program online and directly into people’s homes, where these talented participants joined facilitators Charmaine Councillor and Phil Bartlett to learn the basics of Noongar language and songwriting.
Once everyone had their song written and learnt, they recorded their vocals at home ready for final studio production
by Charmaine, Phil and sound engineer /
musician, Sean Lillico. These conditions
make this album an even more remarkable
achievement by everyone involved!
These 15 songs reflect the personal experiences of the people involved. They are a celebration of moort (family), koort (heart), woonya (love) and are a legacy for all.
WATCH
Interviews on Goreng Country for the MULKA Place Names Katanning, filmed by Michael Jalaru Torres in August 2019.
Mulka Place Names Katanning is a creative exploration of the stories behind Noongar place naming in the Katanning area.
The story of Mulka is significant for its place within the greater Noongar Dreaming, a story that has been handed down for generations. Mulka’s story is found within the Noongar place names surrounding the Katanning area. The names of places are not so much a word but a sentence of deeper meanings embedded in boodja [country]. The morals of this story relate to the social organisation of the Noongar people including marriage laws, protection of koolangahs [children] and caring for boodja [country]; to preserve our continuity with our land and our people.
GALLERY
Created during Place Names Langford, this textile map is a contemporary interpretation of land since settlement.
Textile artist Susie Vickery worked with the Langford Aboriginal Association’s women’s art and yarning circle, to stitch this large collaborative topographic tapestry map.
It’s inspired by the local area and sense of place; its significant flora and fauna, important natural resources, built areas over laying the land; and the connection to country embedded within culture and community life.
GALLERY
Produced during Place Names Albany, Moodich Yorgas Yudarn Yarns was an exhibition of textile pieces that celebrated place, language, connection to country and women who have shaped the artists lives.
Noongar artist Caroline Narkle was guided by Menang Elders Lynette Knapp and Vernice Gillies to create a large-scale, art installation which was suspended from the ceiling. Aspiring weavers of all ages and abilities also contributed to the artwork and created their own pieces during workshops held in July 2018. Well known textile artists Kate Campbell-Pope and Maureen James featured in the exhibition.
The exhibition was held at the Vancouver Art Centre during NAIDOC 2018.
WATCH
‘Noongar Boodja’, is a documentary made by young Aboriginal people from Albany.
A stunning cinematic story with Noongar Elders that explores significant places, their Noongar names and culture in Albany and surrounding areas.
This film was developed as part of Community Arts Network (CAN) Place Names program, which looks to engage Noongar communities in exploring the meaning of language and culture through place.
GALLERY
During Place Names Katanning CAN engaged animateur and puppeteer Karen Hethey to work with the community, Elders and more than 100 students. Together, they created two large-scale puppets of Mulka and Djinda and more than thirty coolbardie (magpie) puppets, building on their knowledge of Noongar and local history in the process. The meaning behind Katanning and surrounding place names was revealed to form part of a greater, significant Noongar story of Mulka.
GALLERY
CAN and the Katanning Noongar Leadership Group proudly joined in hosting the community at an installation of language and artworks, featuring the magnificent Mulka and Djinda puppets, in the main street of Katanning.
Despite Covid-19 putting an end to the Harmony Festival parade in the town, community and visitors joined in the celebration of over 18 months work, displayed in a pop-up exhibition over the Harmony weekend.
Elders and community from the Great Southern towns of Katanning, Tambellup, Gnowangerup and Badgebup welcomed the wider community to learn about Noongar place naming in their area. Each place name was interpreted with its Noongar significance in what was an important experience for the whole community.
WATCH
This podcast compilation is a celebration of strength, resilience and cultural pride…. as told by the Yued community of Moora.
Narrated by Cyndy Moody and Daniel Hansen, this collection of stories was collected during Community Arts Network's Place Names project which explores the meanings of Noongar places.
These playful, poignant and precious stories are our nation’s hidden histories and remind us that this always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.
Credits: Produced by Michelle White (CAN) & Jeff Michael (100.9fm). Edited by Jemma King. Music: New Beginnings/Rain (royalty free). Artwork: Sandy McKendrick
LISTEN
This podcast series is a celebration of strength, resilience and cultural pride…. as told by the Yued community of Moora.
Narrated by Cyndy Moody and Daniel Hansen, this collection of stories was collected during Community Arts Networks Place Names project which explores the meanings of Noongar places. These playful, poignant and precious stories are our nation’s hidden histories and remind us that this always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.
Credits: Produced by Michelle White (CAN) & Jeff Michael (100.9fm). Edited by Jemma King. Music: New Beginnings/Rain (royalty free). Artwork: Sandy McKendrick
GALLERY
Kep Gabi: Stories from Yued Country exhibition opened on Friday, 25 September at Gardiner Street Arts Collective in Moora. The exhibition and book launch was an opportunity for Elders to pass on cultural knowledge to future generations of storytellers and share it with the wider Western Australian community.
The exhibition was visited by over 700 people.
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Kep Gabi: Stories from Yued Country is an intimate collection of anecdotes told by local Elders and community members about growing up in Moora and surrounding towns, celebrating strength, resilience and cultural pride by the Yued people of Moora.
Produced during Place Names Moora, Kep Gabi provides a local oral history that members of the Yued Noongar people have chosen to make visible. This action ensures that these stories are shared with future generations, and that all West Australians know the significance and meaning behind the local placenames and the land upon which we all now live.
These playful, poignant and precious stories are our nation’s hidden histories and remind us that this always was and always will be Aboriginal land.
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A collaboration between Community Arts Network, the City of Stirling and the Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre, the Home project sought to create a welcoming space for women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to gather, share experiences and learn new craft skills during a series of workshops in Mirrabooka.
Textile artist Susie Vickery, jewellery-maker Sultana Shamshi, and Noongar artist Sharyn Egan guided the group through different stitching, wire-work and weaving techniques, as a passion for craftwork was awakened in many of the women.
Each week as the women explored what home meant for them, they drew creative inspiration from homelands they had left behind – which included Egypt, Eritrea, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Iraq – and their new home situated on Noongar country. As the women shared stories of their homelands through their artworks, strong bonds developed, new friendships flourished and a passion for craftwork was awakened in many of the women.
This publication was also translated into Arabic which you can view here.
WATCH
Common Ground Returnsis a live performance of new, raw and powerful poems by a group of emerging spoken word poets.
The workshops were presented by CAN in 2018, in partnership with Multicultural Arts Victoria to give voice to people from diverse religious and ethnic.
“Its about finding our common ground… the stories and points of interest that bring us together, not set us apart.”Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa
LISTEN
Kwobidak Maawit is a compilation of beautiful, heartfelt songs from families in Bunbury, in the South West of Western Australia. In the third edition of Lullabies, 19 songs were written and performed on site at Roelands Village in June 2018 and further developed in the following weeks with additional musical production. Written and performed in Noongar by each participant, the lullabies are a celebration of family and community life, and a legacy for future generations.
READ
This booklet was created during the UDHR project. A CAN partnership with the Museum of Freedom and Tolerance that worked with Youth Leaders at the Edmund Rice Centre WA to run workshops that examined the UDHR, what the rights are, how they affect us and what their relevance is to young people.
This booklet includes all 30 Declarations of Human Rights.
GALLERY
This poster series was created during the UDHR project. A partnership with the Museum of Freedom and Tolerance and worked with Youth Leaders at the Edmund Rice Centre WA to run workshops that examined the UDHR, what the rights are, how they affect us and what their relevance is to young people.
The young artists words and creative interpretations of the declarations were drawn together into these posters.
As a part of this project CAN also partnered with a new augmented reality technology, to bring the voices to life. By downloading a new smartphone App called Evista, by 1world4wellness you can scan photo’s on the poster and book and watch as it literally comes to life through video!
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Common Ground is a spoken word poetry workshop that brings young people from diverse backgrounds together to explore and express their identity through the art of poetry, to find the stories that bind us together.
Using a skills development approach pioneered by Multicultural Arts Victoria, CAN partnered with MAV to run a pilot of Common Ground in Perth.
With support from Propel Youth Arts, the State Theatre Centre of WA and Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, CAN delivered the intensive workshop in October 2017, culminating in a showcase performance.
Under the expert guidance of renowned poet and performance artists Abdul Hammoud and Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa, five young emerging artists captivated the audience with their powerful works.
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Recording and story edit by Bill Bunbury. Image: Mitchella Hutchins with her mother Vivian Webb, 2016
In 2016, Community Arts Network invited Aboriginal community members with a connection to Busselton to record their stories for the Bush Babies project series. The project also ran painting workshops with final pieces shown in the Keyen Koondarm (One Dream) exhibition.
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Recording by Bill Bunbury, story edit by Jemma King. Image: Tessa Grimshaw, My Journey, acrylic on board, 2016
In 2016, Community Arts Network invited Aboriginal community members with a connection to Busselton to record their stories for the Bush Babies project series. The project also ran painting workshops with final pieces shown in the Keyen Koondarm (One Dream) exhibition.
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Recording and story edit by Bill Bunbury. Image: Jack Hill with Nyungar Heritage plaque in Busselton.
In 2016, Community Arts Network invited Aboriginal community members with a connection to Busselton to record their stories for the Bush Babies project series. The project also ran painting workshops with final pieces shown in the Keyen Koondarm (One Dream) exhibition.
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Recording and story edit by Bill Bunbury. Image: Samuel Isaacs, 1876, photo courtesy of Dr Robert Isaacs.
In 2016, Community Arts Network invited Aboriginal community members with a connection to Busselton to record their stories for the Bush Babies project series. The project also ran painting workshops with final pieces shown in the Keyen Koondarm (One Dream) exhibition.
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Recording and story edit by Bill Bunbury. Image: Judy Weston, Poetry Dreaming, acrylic on board, 2016.
In 2016, Community Arts Network invited Aboriginal community members with a connection to Busselton to record their stories for the Bush Babies project series. The project also ran painting workshops with final pieces shown in the Keyen Koondarm (One Dream) exhibition.
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Recording and story edit by Bill Bunbury. Image: Dr. Robert Isaacs at Clontarf Boys Town, Bentley, circa 1960.
In 2016, Community Arts Network invited Aboriginal community members with a connection to Busselton to record their stories for the Bush Babies project series. The project also ran painting workshops with final pieces shown in the Keyen Koondarm (One Dream) exhibition.
LISTEN
Recording by Bill Bunbury, story edit by Jemma King. Image: Amanda Bell, Santa, acrylic on board, 2016.
In 2016, Community Arts Network invited Aboriginal community members with a connection to Busselton to record their stories for the Bush Babies project series. The project also ran painting workshops with final pieces shown in the Keyen Koondarm (One Dream) exhibition.
LISTEN
Recording and story edit by Bill Bunbury. Image: Jenny Hill, Boolang (After Nan Alice Nannup), acrylic on board, 2016.
In 2016, Community Arts Network invited Aboriginal community members with a connection to Busselton to record their stories for the Bush Babies project series. The project also ran painting workshops with final pieces shown in the Keyen Koondarm (One Dream) exhibition.
LISTEN
Recording and story edit by Jemma King. Image: Gloria Hill, The Pride and Joy of My Life, acrylic on board, 2016.
In 2016, Community Arts Network invited Aboriginal community members with a connection to Busselton to record their stories for the Bush Babies project series. The project also ran painting workshops with final pieces shown in the Keyen Koondarm (One Dream) exhibition.
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Bush Babies on the River involved oral history recordings, painting workshops, photography, family history research and cultural mapping.
These community art gatherings brought people together to record and preserve the stories of Aboriginal families connected to Midland.
One of the participants, traditional owner and Swan River custodian, the late Albert Corunna, spoke of ancestral ties reaching as far back as legendary Noongar freedom fighter Yagan.
Other participants were born in communities across Noongar country, however, they all felt deeply connected to Midland and call it home.
The stories and artworks produced during Midland Bush Babies were compiled on a CD and booklet.
Hundreds of copies of the CD were handed back to community at the launch of the BORN ON COUNTRY exhibition at the Midland Junction Art Centre during NAIDOC Week 2016.
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This Behind The Scenes short documentary captures how Burdiya Mob was made. In 2016, a group of Aboriginal young people in Narrogin participated in a series of CAN workshops where they wrote and recorded the song 'Djarliny', which means 'listen' in Noongar.
The young participants worked with an incredible line-up of professional artists: singer-songwriter Gina Williams, actor Ian Wilkes, hip hop artist Scott Griffiths, filmmaker Poppy van Oorde-Grainger and music photographer Matsu.
Elders and parents in Narrogin were an integral part of the project, teaching the young people cultural practices such as tool making, kangaroo skin tanning, fire making, eco-dyeing, language and dance.
The Burdiya Mob project promoted language revival, cultural pride and creative skill development for this talented young group in Narrogin.
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A group of Aboriginal young people in Narrogin are the stars of this music video clip produced by Community Arts Network. They call themselves Burdiya Mob and their song, Djarliny, means ‘Listen’ in Noongar.
Filmed in and around Narrogin and featuring culturally significant sites, the music video is a celebration of contemporary and traditional Noongar culture.
The young participants worked with an incredible line-up of professional artists: singer-songwriter Gina Williams, actor Ian Wilkes, hip hop artist Scott Griffiths, filmmaker Poppy van Oorde-Grainger and music photographer Matsu.
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'Streets of Gold' by Lynette Yarran is part of the ‘Shine – Healing songs from the heart and the land’ album. The album is a culmination of Community Arts Network's three-year music workshop program with the Quairading and Kellerberrin communities. Ten local, first time performers worked alongside professional artists and turned their heartfelt personal stories into professionally recorded songs.
Award winning Noongar singer Gina Williams facilitated the workshops alongside acclaimed musicians Guy Ghouse and David Hyams. The trio helped aspiring Aboriginal performers to turn their stories into contemporary songs.
The beautiful collection of original ballads tells tales of love, loss, life, culture and country. Some songs have been more than fifty years in the making.
Video Clips produced through a partnership with Central Institute of Technology and CAN.
Streets of Gold—Lynette Yarran
Lyrics: Lynette Yarran and Gina Williams
Music: Guy Ghouse and Gina Williams
Video Production
Producer: Josiah Saxby
Director: Alister McNaughton
DOP: Jordan Ehlers
Editor: Zoe Knight
BTS: Zoe Knight
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'Son' by Josephine Colbung is part of the ‘Shine – Healing songs from the heart and the land’ album. The album is a culmination of Community Arts Network's three-year music workshop program with the Quairading and Kellerberrin communities. Ten local, first time performers worked alongside professional artists and turned their heartfelt personal stories into professionally recorded songs.
Award winning Noongar singer Gina Williams facilitated the workshops alongside acclaimed musicians Guy Ghouse and David Hyams. The trio helped aspiring Aboriginal performers to turn their stories into contemporary songs.
The beautiful collection of original ballads tells tales of love, loss, life, culture and country. Some songs have been more than fifty years in the making.
Video Clips produced through a partnership with Central Institute of Technology and CAN.
Son—Josephine Colbung
Lyrics: Josephine Colbung
Music: Josephine Colbung, Guy Ghouse and Gina Williams
Video Production
Producer, Director and DOP: Olivia Dhimitri
Gaffer: Taufan Hasny
Production Assistant: Jake Inglis
Editors: Jake Inglis and Olivia Dhimitri
WATCH
'Some Kids Were Taken' is part of the ‘Shine – Healing songs from the heart and the land’ album. The album is a culmination of Community Arts Network's three-year music workshop program with the Quairading and Kellerberrin communities. Ten local, first time performers worked alongside professional artists and turned their heartfelt personal stories into professionally recorded songs.
Award winning Noongar singer Gina Williams facilitated the workshops alongside acclaimed musicians Guy Ghouse and David Hyams. The trio helped aspiring Aboriginal performers to turn their stories into contemporary songs.
The beautiful collection of original ballads tells tales of love, loss, life, culture and country. Some songs have been more than fifty years in the making.
Video Clips produced through a partnership with Central Institute of Technology and CAN
Some Kids Were Taken—Tom Hayden
Lyrics and Music: Tom Hayden
Video Production
Producer: Rob Gibbon
Director: Zacc Smith
DOP: Jayden Corbett
Editor: Remi Sinclair
BTS: Nicholas West
WATCH
'Bush Again' by Christine Walsh is part of the ‘Shine – Healing songs from the heart and the land’ album. The album is a culmination of Community Arts Network's three-year music workshop program with the Quairading and Kellerberrin communities. Ten local, first time performers worked alongside professional artists and turned their heartfelt personal stories into professionally recorded songs.
Award winning Noongar singer Gina Williams facilitated the workshops alongside acclaimed musicians Guy Ghouse and David Hyams. The trio helped aspiring Aboriginal performers to turn their stories into contemporary songs.
The beautiful collection of original ballads tells tales of love, loss, life, culture and country. Some songs have been more than fifty years in the making.
Video Clips produced through a partnership with Central Institute of Technology and CAN.
Bush Again—Christine Walsh
Lyrics: Christine Walsh and Byron Pickett
Music: David Hyams and Christine Walsh
Video Production
Producer, director and camera: Byron Pickett
Editor: Byron Pickett
WATCH
'Coming Home' by Kimberley Carlson is part of the ‘Shine – Healing songs from the heart and the land’ album. The album is a culmination of Community Arts Network's three-year music workshop program with the Quairading and Kellerberrin communities. Ten local, first time performers worked alongside professional artists and turned their heartfelt personal stories into professionally recorded songs.
Award winning Noongar singer Gina Williams facilitated the workshops alongside acclaimed musicians Guy Ghouse and David Hyams. The trio helped aspiring Aboriginal performers to turn their stories into contemporary songs.
The beautiful collection of original ballads tells tales of love, loss, life, culture and country. Some songs have been more than fifty years in the making.
Video Clips produced through a partnership with Central Institute of Technology and CAN.
Coming Home—Kimberley Carlson
Lyrics: Kimberley Carlson, Brett Lambadgee, Brenda McIntosh, Leekesha Taylor and Gina Williams
Music: Guy Ghouse and Gina Williams
Video Production
Producer: Sian Stockdale
Director: Tanya Dharmapala
Camera: Iain Appleyard
Editors: Brandon Carr and Iain Appleyard
BTS: Nicholas Burden
WATCH
'Little Old Quairading Town' by Yolande Yarran is part of the ‘Shine – Healing songs from the heart and the land’ album. The album is a culmination of Community Arts Network's three-year music workshop program with the Quairading and Kellerberrin communities. Ten local, first time performers worked alongside professional artists and turned their heartfelt personal stories into professionally recorded songs.
Award winning Noongar singer Gina Williams facilitated the workshops alongside acclaimed musicians Guy Ghouse and David Hyams. The trio helped aspiring Aboriginal performers to turn their stories into contemporary songs.
The beautiful collection of original ballads tells tales of love, loss, life, culture and country. Some songs have been more than fifty years in the making.
Video Clips produced through a partnership with Central Institute of Technology and CAN.
Little Old Quairading Town—Yolande Yarran
Lyrics: Yolande Yarran
Music: David Hyams and Yolande Yarran
Video Production
Producer: Adrian Tanasi
Director: Dan O'Shea
Camera: Lee Pearman
1st AD: Bree King
BTS: Shane Brown
Editors: Dan O'Shea and Jayden Bilston
WATCH
'Beautiful Memories' by Byron Pickett is part of the ‘Shine – Healing songs from the heart and the land’ album. The album is a culmination of Community Arts Network's three-year music workshop program with the Quairading and Kellerberrin communities. Ten local, first time performers worked alongside professional artists and turned their heartfelt personal stories into professionally recorded songs.
Award winning Noongar singer Gina Williams facilitated the workshops alongside acclaimed musicians Guy Ghouse and David Hyams. The trio helped aspiring Aboriginal performers to turn their stories into contemporary songs.
The beautiful collection of original ballads tells tales of love, loss, life, culture and country. Some songs have been more than fifty years in the making.
Video Clips produced through a partnership with Central Institute of Technology and CAN.
Beautiful Memories—Byron Pickett
Lyrics: Byron Pickett
Music: Michael (Buddy) Alone, Eric Dalgety and Craig Pickett
Video Production
Producer: Mohammad Amin Vakili
Director and Camera: Jaren Park
2nd Camera: Michael Bagust
Editor: Chloe Deeks
BTS: Hafis Mamoun
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Shine: Healing Songs from the Heart and the Land is a soulful collection of professionally recorded ballads that tell stories of love, loss, life, culture and country.
Featured in the album are artists Tom Hayden, Christine Walsh, Bryon Pickett, Carol Yarran, Carrie Yarran, Lynette Yarran, Wayne Yarran, Josephine Colbung, Yolande Yarran and Kimberley Carlson.
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Shine: Healing Songs from the Heart and the Land is a soulful collection of professionally recorded ballads tell stories of love, loss, life, culture and country.
Featured in the album booklet are project artists Tom Hayden, Christine Walsh, Bryon Pickett, Carol Yarran, Carrie Yarran, Lynette Yarran, Wayne Yarran, Josephine Colbung, Yolande Yarran and Kimberley Carlson, who share their story and thoughts on their song(s) and the Healing Songs project.
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In 2014, CAN partnered with Narrogin Senior High School to create a community arts project for Noongar girls in years 8-10. The program used fashion as a medium to intertwine cultural traditions with contemporary craft work. Workshops included up-cycling, fashion design, dressmaking, eco-dyeing, weaving, photography and dance.
After completing their beautiful handmade wares, the students took part in a professional fashion shoot with photographer Simon Pynt. As well as providing them with new skills and unleashing their creativity, students said the project increased their confidence and motivation to attend school and strengthened their pride in culture.
This video, made by the talented Noongar Dandjoo film students from Curtin University, showcases the results of the Noongar Pop Culture Fashion project.
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In 2013, Community Arts Network partnered with Quairading District High School (QDHS) and artist in residence Steven Aiton to develop a series of short animated films that portray Noongar dreamtime stories and experiences of students throughout QDHS’s centenary year.
This short film tells the story of Noongar Elder John Kickett, who campaigned to have his children attend the local school in the early 1900s. The animation reveals how his efforts marked the beginning of the end of segregated education in Western Australia.
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'Narrogin Rush' is a rap song made by some of the male students at Narrogin Senior High School.
In 2013, CAN set out to inspire a group of teenagers from the Wheatbelt to learn their traditional Noongar language. The project brought together a team of talented Aboriginal performing artists who used contemporary music and media to teach teenagers one of the oldest living languages on the planet.
These music videos are a celebration of the Noongar words these students have learnt and their pride in embracing this new connection to their culture. Watch and enjoy!
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'Windji Ngala Moort' Where’s my clan is a rap song made by some of the young women attending Narrogin Senior High School.
In 2013, CAN set out to inspire a group of teenagers from the Wheatbelt to learn their traditional Noongar language. The project brought together a team of talented Aboriginal performing artists who used contemporary music and media to teach teenagers one of the oldest living languages on the planet.
These music videos are a celebration of the Noongar words these students have learnt and their pride in embracing this new connection to their culture. Watch and enjoy!
WATCH
In 2013, CAN set out to inspire a group of teenagers from the Wheatbelt to learn their traditional Noongar language. The project brought together a team of talented Aboriginal performing artists who used contemporary music and media to teach teenagers one of the oldest living languages on the planet.
This documentary celebrates these students and their learning of Noongar words during the Noongar Pop Culture project and their pride in embracing this new connection to their culture. Watch and enjoy!
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In 2013, CAN set out to inspire a group of teenagers from the Wheatbelt to learn their traditional Noongar language. The project brought together a team of talented Aboriginal performing artists who used contemporary music and media to teach teenagers one of the oldest living languages on the planet.
The Noongar Pop Culture publication showcases and celebrates the hard work, energy and pure joy that went into creating the Noongar Pop Culture songs and video clips.
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In 2009, Oral Historian Mary Anne Jebb and Radio Producer Bill Bunbury assisted Noongar people of the Central Eastern Wheatbelt to record and share their life stories.
The resulting three documentaries provide a moving insight into lives and experiences of Noongar people from this region. The programs explore experiences of growing up in the Wheatbelt, adjusting to a new way of being, connection to Country and keeping culture strong.
These programs were produced in partnership with in partnership with the Noongar communities of Bruce Rock, Kellerberrin, Merredin, Quairading and Tammin.
Thank you to the following project participants and speakers who generously shared their stories for this project:
Basil Winmar, Carol Riley, Carol Yarran, Charlotte Winmar Smith, Claude Hayden, Frank Walsh, Geoffrey Winmar, Hazel Winmar, Irene Jetta, Linda Champion, Marie Henry, Marika Hayden, Michael Hayden Sr., Michael Hayden Jr., Muriel Collard, Pamella Jetta, Reg Hayden, Tom Hayden, Tosha MacIntosh, Wendy Hayden, Winnie McHenry, Wyvon Henry.
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CAN acknowledges the Noongar people of the Bibbulmun nation as the traditional custodians of the lands on which we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and honour all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of this nation. CAN is proud to work with people from all cultures, but we do so on the understanding of First Peoples, first.
Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
