Eight original paintings by Aboriginal prisoners in the care of Corrective Services have been reproduced as a set of greeting cards ahead of National Reconciliation Week, starting today (27 May).
The theme for this year’s week is More Than Words: Reconciliation Takes Action.
Director of Education, Employment and Transitional Services at Corrective Services, Christine Laird said that through the act of making artworks, the prisoners were following their own paths towards reconciliation.
“Some are working in symbolic ways to represent connections to culture, whilst others are using contemporary art practices to question the social and political position of Aboriginal people in Australian society,” Ms Laird said.
The creator of Spiritual Dance (pictured), a Wudarji man who didn’t know how to paint before he was incarcerated, explained that his artwork not only enabled him to grow as a person, it also strengthened his connection to country.
“Through it, I can create images that other people tell me they enjoy. I can show a side of being Aboriginal that is joyful and reaches out to make people happy and it does my heart good to know that people appreciate my work,” the prisoner said.
Ms Laird said Spiritual Dance joins past and present and Western and Aboriginal cultures with vibrant, celebratory colours.
Produced at the Casuarina Prison Print Shop, the cards will be available at the Fremantle Prison Art Gallery for $10 per pack of eight, which makes the project ‘cost neutral’ for the Department.
The Gallery can be accessed at this PS News link and National Reconciliation Week runs from today to 3 June.
