Community Arts Network

National Reconciliation Week

The theme for this year's National Reconciliation Week is ‘All In’ - it’s a call to action for every Australian to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation.

In a powerful Key Note address at the annual Reconciliation Week Breakfast at Optus Stadium today, respected Noongar Broadcaster Narelda Jacobs, made an impassioned plea for that journey to start with a commitment to truth telling - because until we acknowledge the past, we can’t move forward.

With that in mind, CAN would like to invite you to learn more about our shared history by listening to
‘Karlkurla Ngurra Wangka – Speaking on Silky Pear Country’.

This podcast series hosted by Anangu Spinifex woman Debbie Carmody and featuring the life stories of ten remarkable Elders from the Goldfields region of Western Australia.

The conversations you will hear are not just a celebration of resilience, pride and faith; in many cases, they are truly remarkable stories of triumph over adversity.

Prepare to be taken on a poignant journey where you will hear the history of the Goldfields told from a First Nations perspective.

You can find the podcast conversations at https://www.can.org.au/arts/artwork/karlkurla-ngurra-wangka-podcast

Museum of the Goldfields
Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport
Creative Australia
ABC Goldfields-Esperance
Tjuma Pulka 96.3 FM

Make sure you tune into Reconciliation WA’s National Reconciliation Week statewide breakfast broadcast tomorrow, from 9am! You can watch the broadcast via SBS on Demand or NITV.

This year’s theme is "All In". It calls on all Australians to commit to reconciliation wholeheartedly every day, stepping away from the sidelines to share the responsibility of creating meaningful change alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

RecWA is also hosting a breakfast at the Entertainment Centre in Kinjarling/Albany, which will showcase CAN’s Mapping Menang art and truth-telling project for Albany 2026.

Tune into the broadcast on SBS on Demand, on your smart TV or computer, or on NITV (Channel 34) on your TV.

Read more about the breakfast broadcast: https://www.recwa.org.au/national-reconciliation-week-breakfast-online-watch-party/

Reconciliation WA
SBS Australia
NITV

National Reconciliation Week Breakfast: Online Watch Party - Reconciliation WA The National Reconciliation Week Breakfast is one of WA’s most important annual gatherings and you can be part of it from anywhere. Whether you’re hosting a workplace morning tea, a school gathering, a community event, or simply inviting friends and family into your home, a Watch Party is a powe...

On Thursday evening the CAN team was thrilled to attend the launch of ‘Kinjarling Djinnaang Ngaluk | Our Country Sees Us’ at the State Library of WA (SLWA). Curated by Menang Noongar woman and SLWA Senior Partnerships Officer Denien Toomath (featured in the Instagram reel), this immersive exhibition honours the stories of Menang Noongar Elders and the culture of Menang Country.

The exhibition launch invited us into Menang Country with beautifully presented film footage of Menang community members, many of whom are taking part in the CAN/National Trust of WA Mapping Menang project. Check out the reel and make sure you get along the State Library to get to experience the magic that is Menang Country at ‘Kinjarling Djinnaang Ngaluk | Our Country Sees Us’: https://slwa.wa.gov.au/whats-on/kinjarling-djinnang-ngalak

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYmLFlmuB-6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

State Library of Western Australia
The National Trust of Western Australia

Kinjarling Djinnang Ngalak An immersive exhibition centred around newly recorded video oral histories of Menang Elders and a large-scale visual meditation on the Kinjarling/Albany landscape.

Thank you Guanhao Cheng and Echo News for this lovely write up about our 2025 Strange Times project! Presented in partnership with Swan City Youth Service, this project offered a group of young emerging music makers the opportunity to star in their own music video. Read all about it…

https://echonewspaper.com.au/news/swan-based-youth-music-program-nurturing-new-artists/

Filmmaker Johnathon Karalis (front) with participants Kalia Atawhai, Rafferty Bacon, Jackson Brown, Jentzen Mastingly and Robbie Cameron. Picture: Halim Mellick

Echo Newspaper
Swan City Youth Service
Healthway
Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport
The Kids Research Institute Australia
Johnny Yayo
Rush Wepiha

Aren't these works in progress just fabulous?!!! We're in love!

Here’s a sneak peak of the work being created in our High VisAbility 2.0 in-school workshops 👀 Students from Sir David Brand School – a school which caters for students with disabilities from year K-12 – are thrilled to be working with artist facilitators Jane Ryan and Rachel Haines. Many of these students worked with us on the first High Vis project in 2024, and they’re stoked to be taking part in the second iteration!

Produced by CAN in collaboration with Sir David Brand School (SDBS), High VisAbility 2.0 sees Jane – an artist who lives with disability – mentoring SDBS students, enabling them and their teachers, families and carers to discover pathways into the arts for young people with disabilities. Together with Rachel, Jane is inspiring students to express themselves through colour, texture and form, to create collaborative textile-based artworks.

High VisAbility 2.0 is proudly supported by the WA Government through the Creative Learning Collaboration program.

Read more about High VisAbility 2.0: https://www.can.org.au/community/high-visability/2.0

Pictured: High Vis 2.0 artist facilitators Jane Ryan and Rachel Haines

Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport

WELCOME CONNIE

We’re delighted to introduce our newest team member Connie Black, who joins CAN as Arts Administrator and Digital Engagement Officer. Most recently Connie worked at Perth Festival as part of the programming team but her career path stretches from Perth to London, spanning arts management, workshop facilitation, puppetry and stop-motion animation.

With a small at-home animation studio set-up, Connie trained in this discipline at university, and also with the acclaimed Aardman team (best known as the makers of ‘Wallace & Gromit’). In her free time Connie loves to dance and is currently learning swing and salsa.

Connie brings a fabulous blend of administrative know-how and creative flair to her role at CAN and even though she’s only been with us a month, we can’t imagine the office without her!

REVIVE COMMUNITY ARTS

Want to see community arts and cultural development (CACD) better represented and resourced in Australia's next National Cultural Policy? Now is the time to make a submission to the Federal Government to let them know what you would like to see prioritised in that polWant to see community arts and cultural development (CACD) better represented and resourced in Australia's next National Cultural Policy? Now is the time to make a submission to the Federal Government to let them know what you would like to see prioritised in that policy.

Not sure what to say?

There’s a website designed especially to support the CACD sector to lobby for increased recognition and resourcing of CACD in Australia’s next National Cultural Policy. Titled , the website provides guidance and support for CACD practitioners wishing to submit feedback that will articulate the vital role that CACD plays in improving social cohesion, building individual and community resilience, and providing opportunities for meaningful participation in arts and culture, across the country.

Read more: https://www.can.org.au/news/its-time-to-lobby-for-community-arts
Check out the website: https://revivecommunityarts.com/



Creative Australia

Let's lobby CACD The COMMUNITY ARTS website offers guidance to CACD practitioners responding to the callout for submissions to inform Australia’s next National Cultural Policy.

WORK WITH US // Are you a passionate and organised producer looking for a role to make a difference with young people? 🌟 Be part of the Now Sounds team and join the legacy.

Now Sounds Katanning is the fourth iteration of CAN’s acclaimed intercultural arts project, bringing together young people from First Nations and multicultural communities through shared storytelling and artistic collaboration.

Working alongside a renowned team of artists, participants develop skills across beat-making, lyric-writing, rapping, visual arts, photography and performance, while building confidence, connection and creative pathways.

Find out more about Now Sounds Katanning and how to apply here >> �https://www.can.org.au/assets/asset_volumes/projects/Now-Sounds-Katanning-Project-Producer.pdf

Applications close 3pm, Thursday 21 May 2026.

Although we can’t yet share the beautiful map of Menang that has been created by community members during the Mapping Menang project, we can give you a peek behind the scenes at the creative process, which includes some glimpses of the maps’ oceanic blues and granite shades.

Starting from yarns over cups of tea, the creative process behind the Mapping Menang project has been grounded in consensus, creating a space to hold multiple perspectives. Read all about it on the CAN blog:

https://www.can.org.au/news/turquoise-shallows-to-granite-peaks-painting-a-map-of-menang-country

Pictured:
Menang community member Sarah Williams, painting the map
Credit: Ann & Tom

The National Trust of Western Australia
Lotterywest
The City of Albany
AusGov Office for the Arts

Turquoise shallows to sandy deserts: painting a map of Menang Country Starting from yarns over cups of tea, the creative process behind Menang’s cultural map has been grounded in consensus, creating a space to hold multiple perspectives.

LAST CHANCE TO SEE LEGACIES KARLKURLA

Our beautiful Legacies Karlkurla (Kalgoorlie) exhibition at the Museum of the Goldfields closes this Sunday!

Featuring portraits by internationally acclaimed Djugun-Yawuru photographer Michael Jalaru Torres and podcast conversations hosted by Spinifex Anangu broadcaster Debbie Carmody, Legacies Karlkurla shares poignant, powerful, and at times heartbreaking stories of ten Aboriginal Elders from the Goldfields, of which Betty Logan is one.

Like many of her era, Goldfields Elder Betty Logan didn’t have the opportunity to attend high school – but that didn’t stop her from realising her dream to become a registered nurse.

She wrote to the head of nursing repeatedly, never accepting ‘no’ as the final answer.

She wrote again. And again. And again.

Eventually her persistence paid off and she received an invitation to sit an IQ test once she turned 18.

Betty passed with flying colours and was accepted into nursing school – a career that took her around the state and one she loves to this day.

Her story is a powerful reminder that determination, courage and belief in yourself can open doors that once seemed impossible.

You’ve got until Sunday 3 May to learn more about Betty’s story, and the stories of nine more remarkable Elders at Legacies Karlkurla. The exhibition is open daily from 10am - 3.00pm at the Museum of the Goldfields. Read more: https://www.can.org.au/news/legacies-exhbition-celebrates-elders-stories-of-survival-activism-and-cultural-pride

And if you’re not in Kalgoorlie, you can listen to the stories of all ten Elders on the Karlkurla Ngurra Wangka podcast https://www.can.org.au/.../karlkurla-ngurra-wangka-podcast

Pictured: Betty Logan. Credit: Michael Jalaru Torres

Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport
Creative Australia
Museum of the Goldfields
ABC Goldfields-Esperance
Tjuma Pulka 96.3 FM