NAIDOC at the National Museum

For the last few years we've attended 'NAIDOC at the peninsular' a festival celebrating the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders and highlighting their (usually poor) status and treatment by Australian society.

This year I took the kids along and found that the whole thing had been moved indoors into the main National Museum building,

I was disappointed at first as I've enjoyed the outdoor festival. It's usually a bit of a hot-potch and a strange melee of community group stalls, people dressed in animal costumes and aboriginal rap bands. Last year the kids got free candy/fairy floss which they loved but certainly had a lack of connectedness between the plight of aboriginal communities.

Part of the driver to 'organise' things - and move the whole thing indoors was the weather, which at this time of year can  variable (and often chilly) and the extended National Museum cafe which otherwise would have lost out to the burger/hot dog vans which used to grace the 'outside' festival.

All the community stalls were gone and sadly the (slightly loveable) kitschness too.

Anyway, the kids enjoyed the story telling by Larry Brandy who re-enacted an emu and kangaroo hunt and ended with a jolly song and we met our old friend Andrew Hoare who drew Audrey's portrait as part of a NAIDOC cartoon poster they were putting together.

We ended our day doing screenprinting (again a slightly tenuous link to NAIDOC) but the kids loved it and we came home with some masterpieces.

Larry Brady story telling (Audrey and Eli down the front)

Eli with his screen printed 'Bob the Minion'

Warren Williams

Eli drawing his own cartoon

The extremely talented Andrew Hoare