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OPENING ADDRESS BY EVELYN SCOTT CHAIRPERSON
TO THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF ACROSS: INDIGENOUS ART AND CULTURE INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS CANBERRA SCHOOL OF ART 12 OCTOBER 2000 Thank you for your welcome, Matilda. I acknowledge that we are on the land of your people, the Ngun(n)awal people, the traditional owners. I respect the living culture of the Ngun(n)awal people, and the unique contribution they make to the life of the Canberra region. Professor Williams, Doreen Mellor, Margot Neale and Sylvia Kleinert, Professor Howard Morphy, ladies and gentlemen. As the Chairperson of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, I am always gratified to see wider community appreciation of the living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – the First Australians. This exhibition by talented Indigenous artists clearly achieves its objective of showing us the diversity of Indigenous visual art. From dance to film, Indigenous Australians have a lot to be proud of. I see this exhibition as another way of continuing traditional story-telling. Just as elders pass on the stories they were taught, these young artists have their own stories to tell us. These stories are here for the wider community to appreciate, and they help us in our journey to reconciliation in this country. Reconciliation between Australia's Indigenous peoples and all other Australians is about building bridges. It is about respecting our differences. It is about giving everybody a fair go. It is about building on the strengths of common ground. The exhibition ACROSS and the publication, the Oxford Companion to Art and Culture, encourage the understanding and appreciation of Indigenous culture that is so important for reconciliation. Initiatives such as these are crucial to the future of reconciliation. With the formal process ending on December 31 this year, the people of Australia will have to decide what they want to achieve for reconciliation and how to achieve it. My Council has always said reconciliation is a people’s movement—that includes academics, artists, editors, organisations and businesses. The power of the people's movement and the growing support and partnerships between community, business and Indigenous peoples will help us achieve the equity we deserve. Reconciliation is not an isolated event but part of the fabric of this nation. The Council and I believe in a lasting reconciliation that is a healing salve for the woes of this land. We believe in a resolution of the national conscience that leads to a society where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their cultures are respected and valued, and where they can share in the nation's wealth. What a rich and valuable heritage to leave our children - a 56,000 year culture, thriving in a country at peace with its conscience. I commend the Australian National University’s research work on the Oxford Companion to Art and Culture, and the Canberra School of Art Gallery and I now declare this exhibition open. Thank you.
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