Title: Truth in Every Note Theme: Identity and Culture Medium: Art
Brief Description: In my artwork, I chose to show musical notes coming from Archie Roach’s mouth, flowing towards the children walking back to their Country. This represents him singing his song, ‘Took the Children Away,’ especially the powerful line, ‘the children came back.’ That part of the song is so important to me because it shows that no matter what has happened in the past, our culture remains strong and will never be forgotten.
The dots surrounding Archie Roach represent the spirits of the elders who were lost and those he sings for. They surround him like an aura, showing their respect for the truth-telling he is doing. The dots also represent Archie’s own spirit. Now that he has passed on, I wanted to show that he has joined the other spirits, his voice and legacy continuing to guide us from the spirit world. His music gives voice to stories of pain and resilience, helping our people feel seen, heard, and supported in their healing.
This artwork reflects on the deep connection between identity, culture, and the experiences of the Stolen Generations. Archie Roach was taken from his family when he was just two years old. Like many others, he grew up away from his culture, language, and community. I included a baby in my painting to represent the thousands of Aboriginal children who were taken as children who grew up not knowing where they came from or who they were.
The mother holding her two babies in the artwork symbolises a family reunited. It shows the strength that comes from being with family, and how important connection is to who we are. Holding hands, we walk as one, and we are stronger together across all generations. The Stolen Generations caused deep pain and confusion for many Aboriginal people, and its impacts are still felt today through intergenerational trauma. For many, finding a sense of identity after so much was taken is still a journey. But at the same time, stories like Archie Roach’s also show how powerful and unbreakable our culture is. His music has helped so many people reconnect with who they are and where they come from.
Despite everything, our people have continued to fight for our rights, our stories, and our truth to be heard. That strength helps others to feel proud of being Aboriginal and to embrace their identity and culture. Through this artwork, I wanted to honour that fight, that pride, and the resilience of our people.
Truth in Every Note
Paeton Jackamarra
Title: The path to the heart Theme: Country and Connection Medium: Art
Brief Description: My country is important to me because we need to maintain our land. These memories are linked to the land that we represent with our art. It makes us look back into the past and helps us acknowledge our ancestors and the learning that they gave us.
For us, we go out to camp on country. We sit around the fire with our families, yarning the stories and passing them on to the next generation. We all teach our young family members how to survive in the bush on their traditional lands.
First Nations history is important to remember. The connection to country tells us who we are, what happened in history and how to live in a healthy way to explore our land and culture. These stories are tied to our land. They are embedded in our brain as part of our being. We always clean up after going out on country. We make sure the fire is put out and covered over with sand. Sometimes, we leave some meat from our hunting behind to help the animals. We only kill animals we are going to eat. We make sure that the rivers are cleaned up when we travel through them. We try not to kill females so that the animals keep reproducing for the next time we need a feed. We definitely leave females with babies alone, even if they’re the only ones we see or the fattest and best meat.
The path to the heart
Aleara madex
Title: where do i belong Theme: Identity and Culture Medium: Text
Brief Description: My text is about my connection to the land and how I feel i don’t belong.
I’m a proud First Nations woman. I know I’m First Nations – but where exactly I belong, I don’t know. And that’s the problem. Growing up in Ararat was very hard for me and my family, ararat being one of the whitest towns in victoria. We didn’t know any other aboriginal people until we found the amazing budja budja (meaning country/land). Budja budja is a doctors in halls gap (jardwadjali) they specialise in aboriginal and Torres Strait Island health and wellbeing. They are extremely inclusive and they even hold connections to country day trips and camps but I was unfortunately too young for the camp.
Since then me and my family have done more research and tried to find as much as we can about where we come from. It is relatively hard to find things about my family and culture as my nar used to burn every photo she had of my aboriginal relatives so I have no idea who my cousins are, they could walk straight past me and I wouldn’t know.
I notice the land I walk on but I feel I don’t have a connection to it. I love going for walks up in the grampians and seeing the cool rock paintings, I just dont think I have a spiritual connection or realise that my ancestors used to walk where I am walking.
I think the colonisation of my people have taken away my connection to the land and i am also half english so people see me and think i am just another english people, but when they do find out i am aboriginal i get the, you don’t look abo, what percent are you and is this person you cousin. I think this has made me feel disconnected because people don’t see me as aboriginal but also I’m scared of what they are going to say. Will they make a rude joke about my family?
I also feel like I don’t belong, as i am half white i feel like i dn connect with other aboriginal people as the only ones i know are full blackfellas and they see me as another white girl.
I want to learn where i come from but most information has been erased, i just wish i was more connected because then maybe i would like my culture a bit more
So here i am an aboriginal person by blood and name but sometimes i feel like a stranger in my own land
Mathilda Turrell
Title: The war of colour Theme: Family and Community Medium: Text
Brief Description: The war of colour, the black war. A cultural ego, a historical horror story. The first had experience of what its like to be the turn out, of generations of abuse.
The war of colour—the black war. A cultural ego, a historical horror story.
As a light coloured first nation, I wish to achieve the story of my past. My tribe was a family, the earth our elder. I wish upon everything to help guide others the right way. For ourselves are the one to blame for our own mistakes.
For centuries there’s been an invisible gap between nations, forgiven but never forgotten. Although, it isn’t necessarily this generation who is at fault, its them who are suffering. As a proud descendant of Trugga Nini and Dolly Dalrymple, members of the Nugga Nugga, a small tribe in Tasmania before the black wars. I too understand how it feels to see yourself as unequal when it comes to colour and ethnicity, sometimes treated differently for the colour of my own skin. Skin my ancestors gave me as protection and in results of generations of love. I felt ignored, cast aside and unworthy. However, I’ve come to learn this isn’t true. Colour does not define you, nor your culture.
The stories of millions, sent down through people. People whose wrists were bound to chain and hunched backs fit to the hills they no longer called home—the hills once called Kunyani now called wellington, the intruders new title.
I may never know who my ancestors were, nor will I be able to rekindle the relationship I could have had, but the land is what offers me that protection, the protection I need against the negativity of the earth we live.
Humans used to be peaceful and commune with the land. The land gave us resources, we gave it protection. The land conquered and fought, giving us dream time stories and endless plains to lie. Yet we were no use for the artillery of the white, people who wanted nothing but new land and plains to build upon centuries, there are still bullet holes in the caves my ancestors called home. Holes in my family tree where there should never be.
No, not all of them were bad. Truly, some wanted nothing more but to learn and to love, yet still others came with black hearts where they tore open the ribs of the earth, spilling out the families that lived.
“It was no use; they came in boats” Trugga Nini cried, she was but a young girl when she begged for her sisters freedom—Dolly Dalrymple.
Until the land we called home, was the land we called prison. Locked in cages, we were forged into lines shackled together but not with love—with chains and ropes. The very dirt we cast our souls and life upon, we were sent to life—our mothers and children were caged to be sent away or never lived to leave. Some say they were the lucky ones for they wouldn’t experience the gruelling torture of others. We were shackled to our home, never to leave. My elders never seen such war and pain of their years, that war and pain in their eyes for centuries on. What kind of wrong could we have done, to deserve such pain?
These words I hope stick with you forever.
No time, no day, can take away this wound, this pain in the soul of this earth.
Therefore, I say this to you. Mankind is truly, our greatest enemy.
By Mathilda Turrell So young, yet so terrified. ell, a proud Nugga daughter of British and First Australian
Cleo Doyle
Title: Ochre – Contemporary Aboriginal Dance Theme: Country and Connection Medium: Video
Brief Description: My name is [name redacted for judging], and I am a proud Kamilaroi performer and choreographer with a deep passion for Aboriginal contemporary dance, based on Awabakal Country (Lake Macquarie/ Newcastle). My choreographic work ‘Ochre’ is a deeply personal and powerful reflection of my journey, reconnecting to culture and identity as a proud Aboriginal woman. Ochre, as a material and symbol, is central to this work – it represents the earth, history, ceremony and the enduring spirit of our people. For me, ochre embodies the stories, struggles, and strength of my ancestors and community; it is something we wear with pride, a physical and spiritual reminder of who we are and where we come from. Through ‘Ochre’, I honour the resilience, beauty and sacred connection between land, culture and self, making it a powerful act of cultural celebration and healing for both myself and my community.
I like to think of ochre as a sponge, soaking up the earth’s history, spirit and stories over thousands of years. When worn, it releases these layers of meaning, connecting us deeply to our ancestors, our land, and the stories that continue to shape who we are. In this work, each dancer is associated to one of the coolamons that contains different colours of ochre (red, white and yellow), representing the diversity of our mobs, past, present and future, the strength we hold when united through community, and our deep connection to land and culture. The choreography moves between grounded contemporary expression and the enduring energy of traditional practices and movements, embodying the living pulse of Country.
Dance, as a form of storytelling, becomes the vessel through which these connections are shared, becoming a way of calling upon our ancestors, weaving their spirit and guidance into the movement. This call and response between dancers and Country reflects the living relationship with land, spirit and community. During the piece, there are moments that reflect cultural practices of digging for ochre, with dancers portraying the physical connection to the earth through grounded movements. As the dance progresses, each dancer gradually applies ochre to their body, symbolising a slow and powerful reconnection to culture. At times, other dancers help apply the ochre, representing how community supports and uplifts each other in finding and strengthening our connection to Country, culture and story.
This work speaks directly to the theme Country and Connection, honouring the unbreakable bond First Nations peoples have with the land and cultural traditions. Through dance, I explore how these connections are held, passed on, and reawakened through movement. ‘Ochre’ becomes more than a dance; it is a powerful expression of healing, identity and strength shared through story. Presented through the medium of dance in video form, it resonates with contemporary audiences by bridging traditional elements with the art forms that speak to today’s society.
Kiarna Franklin
Title: The Red Soil Theme: Identity and Culture Medium: Art
Brief Description: Through this painting, it tells a story. A story of the Aboriginal children of the Stolen Generations, Living authentically on Country in the natural surroundings of their homeland. The very land from which they were forcibly removed from. My hope in this painting is that when people view my work, they gain a deeper understanding of those who were taken from their families, communities, homes and culture. That they see them not as isolated history, but as real people with real stories that need to be heard. If my painting can spark that awareness, then I know it has fulfilled its purpose.
The Red Soil
Isabelle Potter
Title: Warranta Wingini (We Feel) Theme: Identity and Culture Medium: Art
Brief Description: A story through symbols found in Tasmanian rock paintings about womanhood as a tasmanian aboriginal woman.
Warranta Wingini (We Feel)
Capree Saunders
Title: The heart of my identity Theme: Family and Community Medium: Text
Brief Description: “The Heart of My Identity” by [name redacted for judging] is a heartfelt reflection on the deep cultural, emotional, and spiritual ties that shape her identity as a proud Kamilaroi person raised on Kalkadoon country. [The author] explores how family and community are central to her sense of self, providing strength, guidance, and connection across generations. Through storytelling, cultural traditions, and shared resilience, she highlights the powerful role of kinship and belonging in First Nations culture. This personal piece beautifully illustrates how identity is rooted in heritage, relationships, and the enduring strength of her people.
Family and community are at the core of who I am. They are not just the people around me; they are my strength, my guidance, and the foundation of my culture. Growing up as a First Nations person, I have learned that our connections to family and community are more than just relationships, they are responsibilities, traditions, and a source of pride that shape my identity.
I am a proud Kamilaroi person, raised on Kalkadoon country. Living on this land has not only grounded me, but has also deepened my respect for the strength and stories of the Kalkadoon people. Being shaped by both my Kamilaroi roots and the community I’ve grown up in has given me a strong sense of connection, culture, and belonging.
In my family, stories are passed down like sacred gifts. My grandparents share wisdom from their ancestors, teaching me about the land, our traditions, and the strength of our people. Through their words, I have come to understand that family is more than blood; it is a bond that stretches across generations, connecting me to those who walked before me and those who will come after. Whether it’s through storytelling around the fire, cooking traditional foods, or practicing cultural ceremonies, my family has instilled in me the importance of keeping our traditions alive.
Community, to me, is an extension of family. In my community, we look out for one another. Whether it’s lending a helping hand to an Elder, supporting a friend in need, or coming together for cultural celebrations, we share a deep sense of belonging. This unity is something I carry with me everyday. I know that no matter where I go, my community is always with me, guiding me like the stars in the night sky.
One of the most powerful lessons I have learned from my family and community is resilience. Our people have faced hardships, but through unity, we have continued to stand strong. I see this resilience in my Elders, who teach us to be proud of who we are. I see it in the young people of my community, who are eager to learn and carry our traditions forward. It is this strength that inspires me to share our stories and ensure our voices are heard.
Being part of a strong family and community has shaped me into the person I am today. It has taught me the value of kindness, respect, and connection. As I continue on my journey, I carry the lessons of my ancestors and the love of my people with me. No matter where life takes me, I will always be rooted in my family and community, because they are the heart of who I am.
