Burrunju Aboriginal Art Gallery: Stories through Artworks

Near the shores of Lake Burley Griffin is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural centre. An out of the way place that plays host to Burrunju Aboriginal Art Gallery, a gallery of indigenous art works from all around the country, including the capital region.

The gallery is being promoted by the ACT Government as part of the Canberra Region Heritage festival which runs from mid-April into early May.

The building itself is rather small, but various artworks are put on every surface of the space. Walking inside, you will instantly be surround by colourful pieces, ranging from depictions of animals, figures and events of various indigenous nations. To traditional dot painting artwork which looks like an outwardly painstaking endeavour. The exhibition also includes glass work, clothing and woodworks.

Walking through the space you will be surrounded by pieces you might not understand, the story within the piece may be lost on you.

The Art co-ordinator for the gallery and contributing artist, Linda Huddleston walked me through the gallery to talk about the pieces she has on show.

“Sometimes I’ll ask people, what do you think that this piece means?” Linda began.

“And they look at and just say that’s it circles, and then I’ll explain to them what it actually means”

Linda explained that she talks about the pieces and then talks about herself

“I’ll talk about myself and where I come from”

“Then I’ll talk about my father being part of the stolen generation and people will tell their stories”

“So I’ll teach them about my culture, and they will teach me about theirs”    

“So I give them some of my culture and they give me some of theirs” She concluded.

Linda said that she encourages all artists to put a story in the work they put in the gallery.

Being more than a simple gallery, The Burunju Gallery offers its visitors an opportunity to experience the story behind the images.

The Burrunju Aboriginal Art Gallery is open from 10am to 5pm daily and closed Sundays.