January is a time for new beginnings, reflection, inspiration and planning. Named after the Roman god of doorways and transitions Jānus, January has always been a time for our team to come back together, regroup and consider the year to come.
Particularly this month, we dedicated time for genuine reflection and active support of First Nations Australians, by furthering our learning and contributing to causes that are focused on reconciliation and amplification of First Nations voices.
Find some of the things we love and value right here.
Seed Mob Climate Justice Fund
Can you contribute? Instead of your daily coffee or clothing purchase, donate to the Seed Mob Climate Justice Fund. Your help will help establish Australia’s first and only Indigenous youth-led environmental organisation. We need the leadership and wisdom of First Nation communities in the fight against climate change.
The climate crisis is an issue of social and environmental justice. Too often, those who have done the least to cause the problem, are hit first and worst.
From rising sea levels in the Torres Strait islands, to droughts, heat waves and floods, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are on the frontlines of climate impacts and fossil fuel extraction, but they are also at the forefront of change, leading the movement for climate justice.
If you can’t donate, show your solidarity with First Nations people by showing up in the conversation on social media, attending relevant protests or rallies (safely) nearby or support a First Nations business with a purchase.
Find out more about what Seed Mob have planned.
Images and words: Seed Mob
Otis Carey’s Guluun Garaala Gallery Collection with Billabong
We’re frothing Otis Carey’s new Gallery Collection with Billabong, Guluun Garaala (Rain in the Cloud). The capsule features artworks by Carey on classic surf-wear, made to be worn in the ocean and sunshine. Billabong has been at the forefront of surf culture for a very long time and we’re glad to see them amplifying indigenous artworks and surfers.
Otis Carey is an artist, surfer, father and a son from Gumbaynggirr Bundjalung land. He combines traditional indigenous symbols, family and his connection to country with his own unique twist to create contemporary artworks.
The campaign video gives us goosebumps.
A portion of each sale is donated to Kulai Preschool Aboriginal Corporation.
Image: Billabong
How We Roll Co
X Rachel Sarra
There’s nothing we’d feel better about using in the bathroom. It’s beautiful, 100% recycled and supporting a meaningful cause.
Contemporary Aboriginal artist from Goreng Goreng Country, Rachel Sarra recently launched a collaborative collection with How We Roll. The collaboration features a limited edition roll-out of 100% Recycled Toilet Paper, which is wrapped in Sarra’s original artworks.
Sarra wields art as a powerful tool in storytelling to educate and share Aboriginal culture and its evolution.
A portion of proceeds go towards the Artist and Bridging The Gap Foundation, which aims to improve and advance the lives of Indigenous Australians.
If you like the artworks as much as we do, you can purchase original artworks from Rachel Sarra here.
Image: How We Roll X Rachel Sarra
Purchase a limited-edition Brad Turner artwork from Left Bank Art Group
Support First Nations artist Brad Turner by purchasing a limited-edition print, now stocked at Left Bank Art Group. For your home or workplace, these beautiful artworks can be printed to your preferred size and framed. Each artwork comes with a Certificate of Authenticity hand signed and numbered by the artist.
Songlines have been a prominent feature of First Nations cultures for over 60,000 years. They explain the laws by which people have lived, and the origins of Country and represent the walking routes that crossed the country, linking important sacred sites and locations. Tracing astronomy and geographical elements in ancient stories ‘dreaming’ through the landforms, designed and built by the Creation Spirits. The people of the Bundjalung nation believe that the rocks, rivers and waterholes are more than just a reminder or a symbol of the Dreamtime but represent reality and eternal truth.
Limited Edition artworks by Brad Turner are digitally captured by Left Bank Art Group using their high-resolution flat bed scanner. This reproduction is of such quality, it looks like the original. Each stretched Fine Art Canvas print comes in a bespoke Tasmanian Oak Float Frame, which is FSC certified and sustainably sourced.
Edition of 30.
Image: Brad Turner Yarbil Jalan ‘Songlines’ 1, Left Bank Art Group
See the Level Up Residency Exhibition
Support emerging artists and creative practitioners on the Gold Coast! We’re so inspired by the work created during the latest iteration of the Level Up Residency program.
After spending 3 months in residence at the Level Up Studio and Gallery in Coolangatta, Martina Clarke, Sophia L. Franks, Kimberly Stokes, and Jordan Wilkinson present new bodies of work in a group exhibition. Through their residency program, Level Up offers emerging artists professional creative development and the opportunity to connect with their community and peers.
City of Gold Coast Level Up Residency is an incubator program that engages emerging young artists transitioning from school, work, or tertiary studies to a career in the creative industries sector on the Gold Coast.
Applications for the Level Up Residency 2021 are now open. Closing February 11. More information here.
Viewing by appointment – please email levelup@goldcoast.qld.gov.au or call 07 5581 6691.
Imagery: Level Up Studio and Gallery
Is there something you think we might enjoy but don’t know about yet? Please tell us.