Walking Our Songlines - A Film Screening and Q&A with Dr Rhonda Radley

When

Duration

1 hour 30 minutes

Location

Artlab

Warning

We respectfully caution First Nations viewers that Secrets of Dawn contains images and stories of deceased persons. This exhibition explores Stolen Generations history and Survivors’ personal stories, which viewers may find distressing. Dawn Magazine contains deeply racist language and ideologies reflecting settler-colonial attitudes toward First Nations peoples.

Glasshouse Regional Gallery presents:

Walking Our Songlines - A Film Screening and Q&A with Dr Rhonda Radley

Presented alongside the Secrets of Dawn exhibition, join us for a special screening of Walking Our Songlines, a powerful short film produced by the Coota Girls Aboriginal Corporation.

Created as a resource for truth-telling, education and healing, Walking Our Songlines shares the stories of four descendants of Coota Girls Survivors. Through reflections on connection, culture and identity, the film explores the enduring impacts of forced removals and intergenerational trauma, while celebrating the strength of First Nations people, culture and community.

Following the screening, join us for a facilitated Q&A conversation exploring the themes of the film and the broader history and legacy of the Stolen Generations. Guests are then invited to stay for a complimentary morning tea and continue the conversation in a welcoming and reflective environment.

Morning Tea provided. Free event. Bookings essential.

About The Exhibition

Secrets of Dawn is a powerful, award-winning exhibition that exposes the tactics of assimilation enforced under the NSW Aborigines Protection Act (1909–1969).

The award-winning Secrets of Dawn exhibition features content from Dawn Magazine alongside contemporary works from Coota Girls Survivors and descendants, exposing the tactics used under the Aborigines Protection Act (1909-1969) to progress the agenda of assimilation of First Nations people.

Through powerful truth-telling, Secrets of Dawn honours Coota Girls Survivors and all Stolen Generations Survivors who, despite efforts to eradicate First Nations people and culture through assimilation, have resisted and persisted through truth-telling, healing and self-determination. 

Viewer Discretion Advised

We respectfully caution First Nations viewers that Secrets of Dawn contains images and stories of deceased persons.

This exhibition explores Stolen Generations history and Survivors’ personal stories, which viewers may find distressing.

Dawn Magazine contains deeply racist language and ideologies reflecting settler-colonial attitudes toward First Nations peoples.

About the Film

'It's our time to be healed and the only people who can do that is us' (Cherie Johnson – Coota Girl descendant)

Coota Girls Aboriginal Corporation has produced a short film titled Walking Our Songlines, for truth telling and education, and to inspire Stolen Generations Survivors, their families, and communities.

This important educational resource features four Coota Girls' descendants sharing their stories of connection and culture, and how this is critically important to their healing from the impacts of forced removals on the families and communities of the Stolen Generations.

Walking Our Songlines captures the history of forced removals and institutionalisation of former residents of the Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls Home (1912-1969).

The short film promotes a greater awareness of Stolen Generations history and its impacts on subsequent generations, known as intergenerational trauma. It brings greater awareness to First Nations culture so that all communities, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, understand the importance of kin, country, culture, and spirit in healing.

The stories of four Coota Girls' descendants explores their lived experience and how they have maintained connections – despite the impacts of forced removal and intergenerational trauma – and inspires hope as they share their culture with future generations, other Stolen Generations families, and the wider community.

About Dr Rhonda Radley

Dr. Rhonda Radley is proud Birrbay/Dhanggati saltwater, freshwater woman from the mid-north coast of New South Wales, and walks with her ancestors.

She is known as Baan ‘Aunty’ Rhonda, an active Aboriginal Community Elder supporting the revival of culture through language and practices in her local communities.

Aunty Rhonda advocates for Aboriginal languages to be learned, spoken and seen in educational systems and community spaces. She weaves Gathang language throughout her artforms to invite the viewer/s to use a cultural lens to connect with Aboriginal stories and practices.