In brief
The challenge when dealing with indigenous artworks is retaining the cultural identity, integrity, dignity and meaning of the artworks while fulfilling a commercial need.
saso.creative has been working with the National Aboriginal Design Agency (NADA) for some time in commercialising the work of some of their artists. Typically this involves digitising the artwork (digital photography or scanning), and then tracing and colouring the digitised version such that it is ready for reproduction or output.
Our latest collaboration with NADA was to digitise, colourise and combine several artworks by local Gumbaynggirr students into a seamless vehicle wrap for the new automated bus that will operate along the Coffs Harbour Jetty breakwall.
Art submitted by local Gumbaynggirr highschool students
NADA organised an art workshop where local students were asked to illustrate what was important to them about the Jetty area and Muttonbird Island.
Gumbaynggirr elders Uncle Mark Flanders and Auntie Elaine Turnbull collated the submitted artworks and chose six for the final artwork composition.
The result
The final artwork (shown here as the flat art for the wrap vinyl) highlights the moon and Moon Spirit, the ocean, muttonbirds, Mutton Bird Island, and important totems from Gumbaynggirr culture, including the snake, dolphin and turtle.
The challenge, as mentioned above, was to integrate the disparate artworks into a seamless whole that still did justice to the original students' works and maintained and respected their cultural identity.
Uncle Mark Flanders has given his stamp of approval 🙂
See it in motion
The automated bus will be in service along the Jetty breakwall during the upcoming Christmas holidays.
