NAIDOC 2022

NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This history dates back thousands of generations. 

NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. NAIDOC Week is celebrated by all Australians and is a great opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

NAIDOC Week this year was celebrated from Sunday 3 to Sunday 10 July. The national NAIDOC Theme for 2022 is Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! 

Following is an example of the importance of NAIDOC Week.  

Aleerah Baker is a proud Olkolo/Kutjala women. She is a successful artist, designer and businesswoman. She is passionate about sharing her indigenous culture through her art. She loves colour and uses her artistic flair through her Indigenous art. Aleerah hopes to inspire joy and connection to country and family through her diverse and colourful artwork. Her artwork in the banner at the top of this page represents this year's NAIDOC theme: 

"For me personally Get up, Stand up and Show up starts with us as individuals first. I have shown in the elements of my artwork this process, the importance of restoring the connection with family (through our traditional practices – fire & dance), connection to country (spending time on country – the leaves and nature elements of my artwork).  I was on country when I did this piece and my natural bush surrounds played a big part of my inspiration. The peace I feel on country for me is the best foundation to start getting up, standing up and showing up for myself first. Our elders holding spears shows our connection to our history and honours their work fighting for our way of life.

Lastly the whole piece altogether including the colours, represents how Getting up, Standing up and Showing up will ensure we have a promising and bright future!

If we can Get Up, Stand Up and Show up for ourselves we can then show up for our Family, Community and Country.

When all these elements work together the result is beautiful. We set the example for our future generations and empower them to do the same!"

Some other examples of Aleerah Baker’s beautiful artwork: