NAIDOC Week Panel Discussion
The discussion will honour the legacy of the 50th Anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy and celebrate the role art has played focusing on current issues of national importance. Hear from respected practising artists and invited speakers who Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!
Panel members
Michael Anderson
Michael Anderson is one of the four founding members of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy that was established on the lawns of old Parliament House in 1972. It remains one of the longest established protest sites in Australian history. Michael has spent a lifetime advocating for the fundamental inherent rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. He has worked nationally and internationally on important matters relating to these interests and he is the remaining living member of Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
Nioka Craigie Coe
Nioka Craigie Coe is the daughter of Bill Craigie, one of the founding members of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. Nioka has continued to be inspired by the influence of her father and mother Isabell Coe working in the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
Alana Doolan
Alana Doolan was the first secretary of the Aboriginal Legal Service in Redfern established in 1970. She was also a founding member of the Aboriginal Medical Service Redfern, National Black Theatre in Redfern, Murrawina Childcare Centre, Redfern. Alana was actively involved in all aspects of the political struggle happening in Redfern and Canberra through the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. Alana is the ex-wife of Tony Coorey one of the four founding members of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
William ‘Badger’ Bates
William ‘Badger’ Bates is a highly respected senior artist and knowledge holder of the Barkandji people from far western NSW. His elaborate and detailed prints and sculptures embody the stories and places that are embedded into the lexicon of Barkandji culture and the close connection his people have to the barka (the Darling river), its extensive system that stretches across four states and its life giving waterways.
He is the public face of the Barkandji peoples fight to save the barka, along with the many Aboriginal leaders inneighbouring groups along the length of this major river system.
