The Annual NAIDOC Week Art Exhibition at the Wonthaggi Artspace was officially opened on the weekend.

The exhibition showcases and celebrates local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and is hosted by the Bass Coast and South Gippsland Reconciliation Group with support from the Bass Coast Reconciliation Network.

NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and is a great opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The NAIDOC Week 2023 theme is, ‘For Our Elders’. Across every generation Elders have played, and continue to play, an important role in Aboriginal and Torres Islander communities and families.

"The Elders are the ones that hold on to the culture and the lore, they are the most important aspect of healing our people,” said NAIDOC Committee Co-chair Steven Satour.

“They have the enormous task of maintaining and passing on traditional knowledge, values and customary practices, while helping us find balance as we navigate between two very different worlds.

“They have laid the foundations for us to be successful across multiple sectors like health, education, the arts, politics and everything in between.“

Geoff Russell, spokesperson for the Reconciliation Group said the exhibiting artists Patrice Mahoney, Daniel Church, Christian McGee, Steve Parker and Safina Stewart were the backbone of the exhibition.

“We thank them for their continued support over the many years since the inception of the exhibition,” he said.

“Simply put, there would be no exhibition without them.”

The exhibition also featured five young emerging artists this year.

The exhibition is open to the public until August 6 and the gallery is open seven days a week from 11am - 3pm.

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