LEARNING TOGETHER MURAL

Our Community

'LEARNING TOGETHER' MURAL

‘Badanami Allowah’ is the Darug name for our ‘Learning Together’ Mural. In February 2005, forty students, both Indigenous and non-indigenous painted the mural on the wall near the Administration block.

With the help of Bundeluk, an indigenous artist from the Darug nation, who designed the mural, the students worked in teams of ten. Each team used various techniques to paint including: dot work using cotton buds; toothbrushes for stencilling hands and small and large paint brushes for the main designs. They also painted their hands and left an imprint as their lasting reminder.

The background of the mural was a black wall. This was painted by Scott and Micheal on the previous Wednesday afternoon, so that the main mural could be completed in two days. Even though the students had to work through the heat they remained enthusiastic to the end.

Teachers and students, who were not involved with the painting, were very supportive. Many compliments were bandied around and many students asked if there were going to be anymore painted as they ‘livened up’ the school making it a more pleasant place to be.

The mural depicts the food sources of the local Aboriginal people, the turtle, the goanna, the kangaroo, the cockatoo and the fish. Plants are another feature with wattles, bottlebrushes and lilli pillis all making a splash of green with various reds and yellows.

Bundeluk was very patient with the students and taught them many things. We are enormously grateful to him for his help and friendship. A native garden, with bush tucker plants, will be the next project that the students will undertake. The mural will be a feature of the garden. Both the Indigenous art and the garden satisfy outcomes of the visual arts, science and TAS syllabi. They help the Windsor High community to learn more about and value Aboriginal Culture.