Entertainment
4 December, 2021
The Yarrabah Arts and Cultural Precinctopens with two exhibitions
The Yarrabah Arts & Cultural precinct is opening this Friday, December 3, as a part of the integral five-year vision of the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council (YASC) called ‘Building our Future.’
The precinct is a Gateway building that incorporates an established arts centre and museum.
The opening will run from 10 am to 3 pm; a Welcome to Country and Cultural Dancing will open the event, which will have a Christmas market stall with food, music performances and two major exhibitions: ‘Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow’ and ‘From the Ground Up.’
The creation of this Cultural Arts precinct wants to focus the attention on Yarrabah as an arts hub for artistic excellence, social cohesion and economic development while also showcasing the Yarrabah communities’ cultural identity and history. Manager of the Yarrabah Arts & Cultural precinct Simone Arnol said it’s exciting to open a space to promote local artists and the Yarrabah culture.
“We’re lucky to live in a beautiful community like Yarrabah, which is a paradise by the sea, and the precinct is a space to share that and also to educate others through our museum,” Ms Arnol said.
“We want to get the word out there for the community about our Arts & Cultural precinct.”
One of the exhibitions, ‘From the Ground Up’, will take place in the Gateway building. It is focused on the Yarrabah Pottery established in 1973 at the Yarrabah Mission, now the Yarrabah Aboriginal Community. The project is a valuable representation of the skill of residents who contribute significantly to the cultural history of Yarrabah and the passing of traditional pottery practices to ensure their continuity.
The exhibition ‘Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow’, held in the newly renovated Menmuny Museum, is a tribute to the Archaeological Relics Rangers from the late 1980s, who worked in the documentation, management, and protection of sacred sites and artifacts and Aboriginal human remains throughout Queensland.
Dr Bernard Singleton Senior, a Yirrganydji/Umpila man, whose family were removed to Yarrabah, and one of the first Aboriginal Rangers in Queensland, said it is exciting to have the Yarrabah Arts & Cultural Precinct share the cultural heritage of Indigenous communities.
“People got to pass on their culture, their tribal roots, their land so other generations can learn,” Dr Singleton said.
“In many places we even lost our language, so we have the responsibility to our children and grandchildren to teach them our culture.
“This is our land, and it’s beautiful; we arrived 67,000 years ago; we’re the oldest culture in the world, we need to share that,” he said.
