Community Arts Network

“The thing that’s so important about these workshops is the coming together of all these people who may not have been in the same room together previously and they’re all working together on a collective project that then becomes a legacy for the community and future generations.”
Zali Morgan, Mapping Menang Creative Producer

Check out the latest blog post from our Mapping Menang project, featuring gorgeous photos by Nic Duncan.

Produced by CAN in partnership with the National Trust of WA, the Mapping Menang project is uncovering, amplifying and celebrating Menang stories through the creation and public presentation of a cultural map of Menang Country, created collaboratively by Menang Noongar Elders and community members.
We can’t wait to share the map with you in September, but in the meantime, enjoy this sneak peek into the creative process: https://www.can.org.au/news/building-a-legacy-on-menang-country

Pictured:
Aunty Marie Eades and Creative Producer Zali Morgan having a yarn during a mapping workshop
Carmine Colbung painting the map
Uncle Mark Colbung and Cleve Humphries painting the map
Tegan Jenkins with Aunty Daphne Woods, Aunty Averil Dean and Aunty Marilyn Krakover
Aunty Edith Penny
Aunty Annette Eades with Zali Morgan
Mapping Menang contributing artists and CAN & National Trust WA teams
//credit: Nic Duncan

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

Nominations are now open for the Asia Pacific Arts Awards 2027, closing Tuesday 23 June 2026. Join our online information session about the awards on Monday 11 May at 3pm AEST. Share this with your networks, and find out more at our link in bio☝🏼

We’re stoked that ‘Lost in Space’ has been chosen to appear on ‘First Sounds Vol. 14’, an album that celebrates First Nations creativity, storytelling and musical excellence from across Australia! You can listen to the album here: https://amrap.org.au/release/first-sounds-first-sounds-volume-14-1

Produced by last year during CAN’s Now Sounds Midwest project, the ‘Lost in Space’ music video features singer/songwriters Madi Middleton, Colin Scott, +* and Shalyn Harris; Mason McEwan and Jack McEwan on beatbox and didge; and Dash Bolton, Jasmine Armstrong, Ruby Hurst, Asanchia Wall, Chanel Mourish, Gary O’Brien, Isla-Rose Comeagain, Latrell Octoby, Leshai Papertalk, Ronald Ugle, Taelarni Mourish, Tavis Mourish and Talbin Irwin.

Now Sounds Midwest saw students from Geraldton’s Champion Bay Senior High School and Mullewa District High School take part in intensive music, visual arts and video workshops, mentored by Scott Griffiths (Optamus), Josh Eggington (Flewnt) and Shah Jackey. The ‘Lost in Space’ creative team includes executive producer Scott Griffiths, film director, videographer and editor Andrew McIvor, project producer Elisha Rahimi and animator Nathan Simich, with cover art by Shah Jackey.

Big thanks to the producers of First Sounds Vol. 14, Amrap, for including ‘Lost in Space’ on the album!

Amrap
Healthway
Australian Government Department of Social Services
Department of Communities
The Kids Research Institute Australia

The first phase of the Mapping Leschenault project has seen Noongar Elders and community members dive into their memories of Wardandi Country. Our first blog post for this project takes you through the first phase of this project, which included a site visit to Leschenault Estuary beautifully captured by photographer Hugh Sando, and monotype printing workshops led by artist Francesco Geronazzo.

See the full photo gallery and read the blog: https://www.can.org.au/news/journeying-into-memories-of-wardandi-country

AusGov Office for the Arts
Lotterywest
Leschenault Catchment Council

Journeying into memories of Wardandi Country From early getting-to-know-you sessions to creative workshops, the first phase of the Mapping Leschenault project has been a deep dive into memory.

Our landmark multi-media storytelling exhibition ‘Ngaluk Waangkiny: Stories of Resilience’ is headed to Margaret River this July.

Meaning ‘Us Talking’ in Noongar, ‘Ngaluk Waangkiny’ features the stories of ten respected Elders from Boorloo (Perth), who collaborated with CAN to share their life journeys. At times their stories are heartbreaking and harrowing, but they have been laid bare so that future generations are aware of Australia’s often hidden Black history.

The Margaret River exhibition is part of a two year WA regional tour of ‘Ngaluk Waangkiny’. We thank tour producer Art on the Move for ensuring that this seminal exhibition is made accessible to towns around WA.
‘Ngaluk Waangkiny’ opens at Nala Bardip Mia – Margaret River HEART 2 July, 6-8pm and continues until 3 August 2026, Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm: https://artsmargaretriver.com/event/ngaluk-waangkiny-exhibition-launch/

Caption: (left to right) Aunty Muriel Bowie, Aunty Margaret Culbong, Aunty Doolann Leisha Eatts, Uncle Albert McNamara, Uncle Noel Nannup, Uncle Ben Taylor Cuiermara, Aunty Irene McNamara, Aunty Theresa Walley, Uncle Farley Garlett, Uncle Walter Eatts // Image created using stills taken by Hugh Sando (courtesy of ABC Perth).

Arts Margaret River
ART ON THE MOVE
Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport
Creative Australia
Aesop
City of Perth
ABC Australia

Arts Margaret River » Ngaluk Waangkiny (Exhibition Launch) Meaning ‘Us Talking’ in Noongar, Ngaluk Waangkiny is a landmark, multi-media storytelling project designed to honour and preserve the legacy of Elders.

The vibrant and mysterious creatures that adorn the cover of our latest annual report are beckoning you to take a tour of the transformative work we did in 2025!

Packed with glorious community-created illustrations and evocative photographs, our annual report is more than an administrative document. It takes you behind the scenes of our projects so you can find out how we harness the power of the arts to amplify diverse voices and stories, create positive social change, and build inclusion and understanding between people.

Read our 2025 Annual report here: https://777b074e.flowpaper.com/CommunityArtsNetworkAnnualReport2025/ =1

Artwork: High VisAbility collaborative, site-specific wall artwork // photo credit Edwin Sitt.

Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport
Creative Australia
Lotterywest
The National Trust of Western Australia
Healthway
Australian Government Department of Social Services
AusGov Office for the Arts
Edwin Sitt

Today, on the final day of National Reconciliation Week, we remember Eddie Koiki Mabo and acknowledge his extraordinary legacy. On June 3rd 1992, the High Court of Australia recognised, for the first time, the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to their lands based on their traditional connection to and occupation of their Country. This ruling countered the claim by the British that Australia was ‘terra nullius’ (land belonging to no-one), and paved the way for the Native Title Act, which passed the following year.

Eddie lived a life filled with many achievements; he was a teacher, performer, artist, gardener and political activist. He was a husband to Bonita and father to their ten children.

Learn more about his legacy on the Learning Hub:

https://www.recwa.org.au/hub/search-reconciliation-resources/?keyword=mabo

Image: Trevor Graham and Yarra Bank Films
Source: aitsis.gov.au and indigenous.gov.au

Check out these gorgeous photos from the second Now Sounds Katanning residency, where we worked with 150 young people from Katanning SHS, Kojonup District High School and Badgebup Junior Rangers. These young people blew us away with their enthusiasm to give new things a go, their creativity, their evocative lyrics and storytelling, and the support and encouragement they showed each other along the way!

And read more on the CAN blog: https://www.can.org.au/news/bravery-and-creativity-flourishes-at-now-sounds-residency

Pictured: Students from Kojonup DHS & Katanning Senior High School exploring photography, lyric writing, visual arts and beat making workshops, with Optamus (Scott Griffiths) // Credit: Astrid Volzke

Flewnt
Optamus
Astrid Volz

Katanning Senior High School
Shire of Katanning
Badgebup Aboriginal Corporation
Australian Government Department of Social Services
Healthway
Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport
Creative Australia

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...