28/11/2024
On the eve of the Crisafulli government axing a significant milestone into Queensland’s history, the information on the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry website reads as follows;
“Truth-telling uncovers experiences of endurance, resilience and strength of Queensland’s first peoples and is a powerful way to begin the healing process. Healing will help Queensland move towards a more positive relationship with Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Our aim is to create a shared future that is inclusive of all and embraces our diversity. Our future is one of truth, reflection, healing and respect.”
Capturing stories is not divisive or threatening. It is a journey that can be enlightening for our state and nation, for individuals and communities both regional and in the cities.
This is one aim of the Yimbaya Maranoa Arts Collective, to capture diverse stories, to share conversations and spend time with people whose ancestors have walked the Country for tens of thousands of years. The First Nations led Collective are a group of Indigenous, local and visiting artists who work collaboratively, creating on Country. It’s primarily about relationships, formed by spending time on sites significant to the Gunggari and Indigenous peoples, where often these sites are layered with colonial histories. Understandably it’s not always an easy road but the collective find playful, respectful, meaningful, and diverse ways to heal, grow and to imagine a more hopeful future that our governments and systems are disallowing and silencing. Image of artists on the Maranoa Riverbed 2024.
