NAIDOC 2019: Uluru embodies journey towards a shared future.
Charmaine Mumbulla, a proud Kaurna and Narungga woman, is this year’s winner of the prestigious National NAIDOC Poster Competition.
Ms Mumbulla’s artwork ‘Awaken’ was judged by the National NAIDOC Committee to have best captured the spirit of the 2019 NAIDOC theme: Voice. Treaty. Truth – Let’s work together for a shared future.
Ms Mumbulla’s artwork depicts an early dawn light rising over Uluru, symbolising continued spiritual and unbroken connection to the land. The circles at the base of Uluru represent the historic gathering in May 2017 of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, who adopted the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
This year, NAIDOC Week invites all Australians to walk in a movement for a better future through raising a greater national awareness of the three key elements to the reforms set out in the Uluru Statement.
Arising out of the 2017 national gathering of First Nations representatives, the Uluru Statement represented the unified position and specifically sequenced a set of reforms: first, a First Nations voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution and second, a Makarrata Commission to supervise treaty processes and truth-telling.
NAIDOC Week also celebrates that 2019 is the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages aims to promote and acknowledge Indigenous languages or ‘voice’ as the first words spoken on this continent and the 65,000 plus year-old voice of this country.
Committee Co-Chairs Pat Thompson and John Paul Janke congratulated Ms Mumbulla on her winning entry and thanked all of the talented artists who submitted their artwork in this year’s competition.
“Charmaine’s artwork beautifully highlights the connection between the strength and significance of Uluru, the Uluru Statement and the push by generations of our people to seek the rightful recognition of our unique place in Australian history and society today.”
“The NNC had a difficult task of choosing a winner from this year’s competition which attracted nearly 200 entries from across the nation ranging from artworks from school children and emerging artists to those from established national artists.”
Ms Mumbulla said that she hoped her artwork plays an important part in a national discussion towards the proper recognition of Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander people in this country.
“I’m really pleased about this year’s NAIDOC theme and hope that it continues our national discussion on a treaty - I feel honoured to become a small part of NAIDOC history,” she said.
Ms Mumbulla will have her artwork displayed on the 2019 National NAIDOC Poster and receives a $10,000 prize. With over 100,000 posters printed, the National NAIDOC posters are distributed across the country from schools, kindergartens and universities to Government Departments, corporates and shopping centres. The winning artist’s work will also feature on the front cover of NAIDOC Week education resources being produced by the Special Broadcasting Service Corporation (SBS). These resources will be available to schools nationally in early June as printed resources and accompanied by an online suite of materials via the SBS Learn website.
The iconic NAIDOC poster has been celebrating and promoting NAIDOC Week since the late 1960s and rose to national prominence in the 1970s with the establishment of the Indigenous rights movement.
Ms Mumbulla has a background as a lawyer as well as in education and graphic design. She runs a creative agency called Mumbulla Creative.
Free copies of the 2019 National NAIDOC Poster are available through the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s regional network.
Visit the NAIDOC website to find out more about this year’s artwork and winning artist Charmaine Mumbulla and to download a digital copy of the 2019 National NAIDOC Poster.
Media contact: National NAIDOC Secretariat, NAIDOC@pmc.gov.au