Art and a legend’s legacy

Pilbara students were given the rare opportunity to paint alongside renowned indigenous artist, Gail Mabo, the daughter of indigenous land rights activist Eddie Koiki Mabo.

Ms Mabo spoke about the benefits of painting and her father’s legacy with the children at Hedland Senior High School last Wednesday.

“It’s how they can help to maintain that legacy in the future, and what I believe their roles in the community are to help preserve and maintain that legacy,” she said.

During her visit, Ms Mabo took part in the art classes at the school, helping the students paint a mural and showing them her process.

“Everyone’s touched paint with me and had conversations, and that’s the best way to have a conversation, around doing something that we enjoy, and the students enjoy doing the painting,” she said.

Hedland Senior High School principal Bill Mann said students and staff were privileged to have Ms Mabo visit the school.

“It’s critically important for our students to experience the opportunity to meet with Gail and talk to her about the issues that she and her family have faced and resolved,” he said.

“It creates a huge opportunity for them and the whole school to learn from the wonderful experiences that Gail Mabo has brought to our school.”

HSHS visual arts teacher Caitlin Domeny said the visit was a great opportunity for upper- school students, who benefited from seeing her process and mural projects coming up later this year. “For them to have that experience working on a large scale is really beneficial for them in terms of their education, and for our specialist students, they got to meet a professional artist and learn more about her work and her process,” she said.