National Reconciliation Week 2023
Image: Savi Ross (African American, Torres Strait Islander), Women Now, 2021, digital illustration.
National Reconciliation Week 2023 takes place every year on 27 May to 3 June. This year’s theme is Be a Voice for Generations, encouraging ‘all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways in our everyday lives – where we live, work and socialise.’
NAVA’s vision is for a vital, sustainable and ethical contemporary arts sector where First Nations arts and culture is at the core. Our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) 2023-2024 vision centres principles of First Nations self-determination and story sovereignty, supported by broad and thriving networks of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, arts workers and leaders.
Join NAVA staff in learning about and supporting reconciliation by donating to First Nations organisations and campaigns, buying First Nations art, joining a range of events and activities, and by reading good practice resources when working with First Nations artists and organisations.
Code of Practice
The newly-added First Nations section in NAVA’s revised Code of Practice for Visual Arts, Craft and Design (the Code) offers a critical ethical framework for implementing industry good practice. Written by Stephanie Parkin, Quandamooka woman of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) and Co-Founder and Principal Solicitor of Parallax Legal, this addition to the Code falls under the new Principles, Ethics and Rights section, which puts forward good practice recommendations for progressive social change that reflects the sector’s growing concern with issues of justice, inclusion and representation.
Buy First Nations art
Buy art from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander owned businesses, First Nations Art Centres, galleries registered with the Indigenous Art Code or from independent First Nations artists directly. For information on how to buy art ethically, visit the Indigenous Art Code. For links to ethical dealers and First Nations Art Centres around the country, search members of the Indigenous Art Code or visit the peak bodies:
- Arnhem, Northern and Kimberley Artists (ANKA)
- Desart
- Aboriginal Art Centre Hub Western Australia (AACHWA)
- Indigenous Art Centre Alliance (IACA)
- UMI Arts
- Ku Arts
In NSW
Aboriginal Culture, Heritage & Arts Association Inc (ACHAA) https://www.facebook.com/AboriginalHeritageandCulture/
Blak Markets https://blakmarkets.com.au/
Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative https://www.boomalli.com.au/
SOUTHEAST Aboriginal Arts Market https://carriageworks.com.au/events/southeast-aboriginal-arts-market-2022/
In Vic
Blak Dot https://blakdot.com.au/
Baluk Arts https://balukarts.org.au/
Resources
First Nations section in Code of Practice, NAVA
Working with First Nations Art Centres, NAVA
Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts, Australia Council for the Arts
Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property (ICIP) Info Sheet, Artists in the Black
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander principles and protocols, NSW Education Standards Authority
Deadly Arts collection for Foundation to Year 6 teachers and students
Aboriginal Arts and Culture Protocols, Create NSW
Valuing Art, Respecting Culture, Doreen Mellor and Terri Janke
Aboriginal Cultural Capability Toolkit, Victorian Public Sector Commission
Living on Stolen Land by Ambelin Kwaymullina
Artists in the Black service of Arts Law for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and communities
NAVA guides and resources
Cultural Authority and Consultation by Wesley Shaw
Sacred Data by Jazz Money
Change the Conversation from Surviving to Thriving by Georgia Mokak
Tips to Making a Genuine Commitment to First Nations and People of Colour in the Arts by Georgia Mokak
What’s On
ACT Reconciliation Day, 29 May, National Arboretum, Canberra, ACT
A Little Bit of Justice - The Drawings of Charlie Flannigan, 05 May, South Australian Museum, SA
Gone Fishing, 20 May, QAGOMA, Qld
Naomi Hobson: Adolescent Wonderland, 29 April, Murray Bridge Regional Gallery, SA
Smoking Ceremony and Yarning Circle - Malmsbury, 21 May, Malmsbury Town Hall, VIC
Reconciliation Week lecture with Grace Karskens, 28 May, St James' Church, Sydney, NSW
National Reconciliation Week Events 2023
Visit the National Reconciliation Week calendar to find more public events near you.
Acknowledgement of Country
NAVA acknowledges the Gadigal, Wangal, Dharug, Dharawal, Kaurna, Ngunnawal, Ngambri and Dja Dja Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Custodians and knowledge-holders of the unceded lands on which we live, learn and work.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first artists and storytellers on this continent, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and future.
Sovereignty was never ceded. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
