Art boosts week

By Shaun Inguanzo
CORROBOREE Week has kicked off with the unveiling of an Aboriginal art exhibition at Dandenong’s Chisholm Institute of TAFE this week.
The exhibit, Ngargee II, is exhibiting and placing for sale 126 pieces of art by 38 students of Chisholm’s Indigenous program, as part of its Corroboree Week celebrations.
Indigenous Programs and Services Program coordinator Arbup Ash Peters said the exhibition was about “recognising the students here and giving them a voice”.
“It is making other indigenous people aware that there is a facility here for them,” he said. “We are hoping to attract more indigenous people to the program, we’ve (currently) got people from as far as Knox and St Kilda coming here to the campus.”
Ngargee is an Aboriginal word meaning “a gathering to share stories”.
With the TAFE’s dedicated indigenous learning centre, Mr Peters said students could demonstrate the meaning of Ngargee through painting, woodwork, ceramics, and as of next year, digital photography.
Artist and teacher of indigenous art at Chisholm, Patrice Mahoney, is exhibiting a large piece called My Life.
Ms Mahoney, 30, has been an artist all her life and gained her inspiration from acclaimed artist Victoria Nelson. She hopes to sell her piece for $3000.
The evening was hosted by Wurundjeri member, Germima Gardner, a native custodian of the land where Chisholm Institute sits.
Chisholm communications officer, Dorothy Cook, said a total of 14 pieces were sold on the night, including three by 73-year-old Wurundjeri elder and Chisholm student, Valda Cook.