Aboriginal Art Project

Large and colourful banners and flags decorated with local students’ Aboriginal art will soon add wonderful cultural element to main streets and primary schools across the Narrabri Shire.

Instigated by the Narrabri Shire Council and funded by the NSW Government, the purpose of the Aboriginal art banner project was to produce public art for our communities that celebrates and tells the story of our Kamilaroi culture.

Joining with schools from across the Shire were eight Wee Waa High School students who worked to first create a design concepts before bringing each to life on large banners. 

Taking part were; Teliah Croaker, Alyssa Elford, Lataya Gordon, Nerida-Lee Hayne, Andrew Murray, Meredith Waugh, Ashily Williams and Lacey Evans.

The flags will be displayed at primary schools across the Shire, while our students’ banners will be unveiled to the public at next week’s NAIDOC week celebrations that will take place at the Wee Waa Lands Council building.

The primary school’s flags tell a story of water and the land and feature red soil backgrounds and snippets of the Namoi River.

The high school’s banners however are unique to their specific town and are a colourful expression of the local Indigenous heritage.

The flags and banners were unveiled to participating students at a special ceremony at The Crossing Theatre. The unveiling celebration opened with a smoking ceremony conducted by Alf Priestly. The gathering then watched Patricia Lettice’s Kamilaroi dance group perform a traditional dance.

Each school then had a student representative unveil and explain to those gathered the meaning behind their designs. Representing Wee Waa High School, Lacey Evans proudly explained to the appreciative crowd the cultural stories behind the banners our students created.  

“WalaayBaa means home, we’re all really proud of how the artwork turned out and the students are so thankful for the opportunity to participate in this project,” she said.

Wee Waa High’s Aboriginal Education Officer, Mrs Wenner echoed Lacey’s words, saying “as an elder, I’m just so proud of these students and how they’ve represented the dreaming stories in a modern way”.