17/03/2020
Get painting for Mallee NAIDOC design competition
$2000 prize on offer for NAIDOC design
A $2000 prize and the honor of headlining Mallee NAIDOC celebrations are on offer in the first ever Mallee District Aboriginal Services NAIDOC art competition.
Entries are being invited from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from or connected to Mallee communities, with the winner’s work to feature on the official merchandise at this year’s local NAIDOC week celebrations from July 5 -12.
“NAIDOC is bigger and more meaningful each year in our Mildura, Swan Hill, Kerang and Robinvale communities – which is great to see,” said MDAS Chairman Keith Hampton.
“This year we wanted to find a way to put our own mark on the meaning of NAIDOC and the theme ‘Always Was. Always Will Be’,” he said.
Submissions close on April 9, with the winner to be announced on April 20. In addition to the $2000 Coles Myer voucher first prize, second prize will be a voucher of $250 and third a $100 voucher.
MDAS Mildura-Robinvale Community Engagement Officer John Jackson said the competition aimed to provide a platform for the many talented local artists of the Mallee.
“NAIDOC is a fantastic community event – it’s the only week we really get to celebrate our culture as a whole and we’re hoping the competition will create more awareness, anticipation and pride around that week,” Mr Jackson said.
“From a MDAS point of view, our services are a safe place for our community and having a strong cultural foundation to our places and our work builds the confidence of our community in our organisation and its services,” he said.
“We’re hoping to get a lot of submissions from artists from across the Mallee and we’re working towards an exhibition that really showcases the amazing depth of talent we have in our communities.”
MDAS Swan Hill-Kerang Community Engagement Officer John Mitchell said the competition was an ideal follow-on to the hugely successful MDAS Swan Hill Community Art competition.
“It showed us just how vibrant and talented our local artists are – and that goes from the very young people who emerged in that local competition, to the older, more experienced artists,” Mr Mitchell said.
“They absolutely embraced the opportunity to create and to not only share their art, but to share the stories behind their work,” he said.
“That links right into our NAIDOC theme this year of ‘Always Was. Always Will Be’ because art is one of the very important ways that our culture has been kept alive for 60,000-plus years.
“The huge response to that competition has made us realise was a great window art gives us into reaching out to community and building understanding, so we’re also looking at ways we can bring community members together with their art in an ongoing way.”
More information is available from the MDAS website www.mdas.org.au or from John Jackson (0427) 942 388 or from John Mitchell (0437) 042 688. Art supplies are available on request from community members without access to a canvas, paint or brushes.