Cultural Indigenous imagery has existed in Australia for millennia. For Indigenous people, in the absence of a written language, rock painting dating back 60,000 years has been a means of communicating important cultural stories throughout the generations.
Advance to the twentieth century, street art has adapted from annoying vandalism to commissioned projections of murals of important events or people appearing in different locations around the world. Students undertaking the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Cultural Arts certificate II at Shepparton GOTAFE have worked on a project that adapts the new medium with their ancient heritage to continue the story-telling in the traditional way.
To that end, nine students have contributed to the imagery and design in creating a mural around the basketball court at the GOTAFE campus. Melbourne street artist George Manioudakis as artist-in-residence assisted with the design and helped the students master the medium and helped bring the vision to life.
The work, based around a river red gum portrays the river landscape, its vibrant colour and the living culture of the indigenous people.
