Home program showcase

My name is Tess Reading, I am a proud Gomeroi woman. I am a local photographer and artist from Tamworth. In 2020 I was asked to facilitate photography workshops based on Michael Riley. I really enjoyed delivering the workshops alongside Emma Stilts from the Tamworth Regional Gallery. I have been utilising online delivery due to Covid through my work so it was great to be able to see these skills be used to deliver programs to schools and ensure no one missed out on the HOME program. I cannot wait to see what the students produce, and see their works on display.

Tess Reading

Without Fear Photographer

The Tamworth Regional Gallery has an ongoing relationship with the Kamilaroi/Gomeroi community through the Local Aboriginal Lands Council, and through First Nations groups, individual artists and cultural ambassadors. We value these relationships as we recognise the importance of amplifying a First Nations voice to the broader community. By supporting local First Nations artists we assist our community to understand the beauty, intricacy and ever-evolving nature of the local culture. It helps our community to empathise with the complex and often traumatic nature of our shared colonial history – much of which is still left to be acknowledged and resolved. The Gallery supports the Kamilaroi/Gomeroi community by ensuring exhibitions and cultural events are part of our annual exhibition program – and supporting both emerging and established artists in any way we can.

• Duri Public School
• Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School
• Hillvue Public School
• Tamworth Public School
• Tamworth South Public School
• Tamworth West Public School
• Timbumburi Public School
• Walhallow Public School

The Walaaybaa (HOME), 2020 program and exhibition were developed and delivered in Kamilaroi/Gomeroi Country by Gamilaroi Community working with Tamworth Regional Gallery as part of the program Home: Aboriginal art from New South Wales. In what has been a difficult year for schools in the region, the program continued through three terms utilising online learning platforms such as YouTube Live, Google Sites, video resources and Zoom classes where face to face teaching was not possible.

Exhibited here are a selection of artworks from our exhibition. Some are individual works and there is one collaborative piece.

Walhallow Public School
Walaaybaa Ngarrangarra-li Guru Mayuu (Home Caring for Country), 2020

Our collaborative artwork is in three parts and is about the culture, language, and spirit of our Gamilaroi land. We were inspired by the printing processes used by Barkandji artist Badger Bates and Wiradjuri artist Roy Kennedy’s approach to representing landscape.

In our artwork the streets of Walhallow, our village, are represented in language that reflects our experiences on Country. The homes are printed from foam relief prints inspired by our own homes in the village. The background is composed of frottage (taking a rubbing) developed using colours that reflect our landscape and local flora. Our artwork reflects reconciliation by compiling Gamilaraay language with maps demonstrating the connection between our culture and our home. We care for this Country we live on, and in this artwork we use words in Gamliaraay language to reflect our connection to our land.