It gives me great pleasure to present to you Our Land is Our Spirit exhibition. Our Land is Our Spirit is the culmination of seven months of workshops with six Aboriginal young people as part of the VACCA Art Mentoring Program 2019/20.

At VACCA we believe culture is a powerful protective factor. It builds confidence and positive self-esteem in our children and young people and creates a sense of pride and strength in their individual identity.

The Art Mentoring Program and resulting exhibition is part of our ongoing commitment to building protective factors in our children and young people and the importance of providing opportunities for young people to explore their cultural knowledge and identity through various art media including sculpture, painting and putting their art on gift cards.

The young people who participated in the Art Mentoring Program have been inspired and mentored by the stories and experiences of three artists including Maree Clarke, whose people are Mutti Mutti/Yorta Yorta and Boon Wurrung/Wemba Wemba; the Wemba Wemba artist Emma Bamblett and Ngarigo artist Peter Waples-Crowe.

Through their participation in the Art Mentoring Program the young people have spent time with the artists and learnt about their individual culture in culturally safe spaces, as well as being provided with the mentoring to nurture their talents.

In addition Victoria University’s Moondani Baluk unit, has provided a valuable partnership and supported the young artists to complete modules towards certificate 2 in Mumgu-dhal tyama-tiyt.

I would like to thank Creative Victoria for supporting our vision. I am also immensely grateful to the artists Maree Clarke, Peter Waples-Crowe and Emma Bamblett for sharing their talents and inspirational stories with the young people.

Finally congratulations to the six young artists whose work is showcased in Our Land is Our Spirit.