Our Business

ABORIGINAL ART CENTRE FORUM

25 – 28 October 2022
Jambinu (Geraldton) WA

Designed for art centre staff, art centre board directors and art centre artists, the Our Business: Aboriginal Art Centre Forum is tailored to meet the professional development needs of WA Aboriginal art centres; provide governance training for effective business management; strengthen regional partnerships and provide networking and market access opportunities.

Held on Yamatji Country, Jambinu (Geraldton), 25-28 October 2022, AACHWA’s annual Our Business Forum was held at the Aboriginal Learning Centre, Geraldton TAFE. Attendance was strong with over 90 artists and arts workers welcomed from all over the state for four days of capacity building, learning and knowledge sharing.

Pre-Forum Event (24 October)

Community Engagement Session for Aboriginal Cultural Centre Western Australia

Co-hosted by AACHWA and DLSGC, an engagement session was held with Aboriginal Art Centre representatives providing them with the opportunity to discuss the ideas, narratives, and themes of the WA Aboriginal Cultural Centre.

Attendees shared their thoughts about how they see the Cultural Centre recognising and celebrating their region’s culture, whether that is through art, music, dance, language, community, or commercial activities.

Day One (25 October)

Attendees were welcomed to Geraldton with a Welcome to Country from Donna Ronan, a dance performance by the Jambinu Mayu Dance Group and a welcome from AACHWA CEO Chad Creighton and AACHWA Chair Lyn Yu-Mackay. The forum was officially opened by the Hon, David Templeman MLA, Minister for Culture and the Arts, Sport and Recreation; International Education; Heritage. The morning events were held at the Queens Park Amphitheatre, were everyone enjoyed morning tea and a wonderful art exhibition featuring many incredible works from the Ku’Arlu Mangga artists (Northampton). Following our fabulous morning together, the welcome to Geraldton continued with attendees having a cultural tour & smoking ceremony with Derek Councillor and a visit and art workshop with the skilled artists at Yamaji Art.

In the evening attendees were treated to a Welcome Reception dinner overlooking the ocean, with local crayfish, and poetry readings from Charmaine Papertalk Green.

Days Two & Three (26 & 27 October)

Attendees participated in information sessions and workshops from Copyright Agency (Arlette Martin), Indigenous Art Code (Savannah Travia-Dann), ArtsLaw (Suzanne Derry & Jo-Anne Driessens), Stories Art Money (SAM, Desart, Bronwyn Taylor) and on topics including arts funding (IVAIS and DLGSC). The learnings continued with workshops on Mental Health (Evolve Training – Trish Hill Wall), Governance (ORIC- Tim Brown), Pitching your idea workshop (Creative Partnerships Australia, James Boyd) and Oral History & Language Preservation (Bundiyarra Aboriginal Corporation, Rosie Sitorus and Callan Bindon).

DAY FOUR (28 October)

Symposium

Hosted by MC Ron Bradfield Jnr the morning began with a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony with Derek Councillor, opening address from Shelagh Magadza (Executive Director, Culture and the Arts, DLGSC), Our Future certificate presentation and a musical performance by Tamika King.

Following morning tea, peer to peer learning took shape with presentations and panel discussions including Yamaji Art, Ku’arlu Mangga, Yamatji Regional Southern Corporation, an artist talk by renowned artist and Badimia (Yamatji) woman Dr Julie Dowling and her sister Dr Carol Dowling.

The afternoon session was facilitated by Belinda Cook and featured an Indigenous Fashion Showcase featuring clothing from Juluwarlu Art Group, Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency, Nagula Jarndu Designs, Tjarlirli Art, Waringarri Aboriginal Arts and Yinjaa-Barni Art. This was followed by a presentation from Dave Giles Kaye (Indigenous Fashion Project Manager) and discussion with First Nations photographer Michael Torres.

Overview

Attended by more than 90 artists, arts workers, art centre staff and industry professionals, with 16 Aboriginal Art Centres represented and more than 30 speakers/presenters.