Bayi Dha-ang: Walk Strong - Dixon explaining the artwork

Gentle music plays, we see an aerial shot of a bushland and a river. Indigenous artist Botja (Dixon Patten Jr) is looking over the landscape and up at the trees.

Bitja: Anytime I create artwork I sit with the story, I seek the story. I go out and country. I listen to the wind of the trees. I sit waterside and I watch the river flow.

We see his artwork “Bayi Dha-ang: Walk Strong” against a black background. The artwork is very detailed, and consists of various Aboriginal motifs arranged in a circular pattern around a central meeting circle with 8 figures.

Bitja is sitting in at picnic table outside, with native bushland in the background. He has his artwork in front of him, and is looking into the camera.

Bitja: I listen to what community want in their activism, in the things that they talk about. And for this particular piece, I resonated with what the Department of Health is trying to do. They're trying to make sure that there's cultural safety embedded in everything that they do, in their programs, in their policy in their employment.

We cut to Bitja sitting in a café, working on the artwork on a laptop. We cut back to close ups of plants and the flowing river.

Bitja: I really resonated with having our voice be heard, to know that government agencies and Australia in general was allowing us to have a seat at the table or talk about our own affairs. I think that's really powerful message.

The various elements in the artwork reflect principles of culture. The idea of the meeting places is to come together to, to talk country, talk community,

We see the artwork from above, and Bitja is pointing out different elements.

Bitja: The main middle artwork represents the department coming together in all the different programs. A lot of that is sitting shoulder to shoulder, so you can see the different people, around that meeting circle, but with their shoulder to each other.

They're all different colours to represent that we come from different experiences, different lore, different cultures, different backgrounds, different histories, different belief systems, but that we all have a common understanding of community.

We see close ups of the various elements of the artwork as he talks about each one.

Bitja: And you can see some of the artifacts. You have the shield which represents resilience and standing strong. You have the coolamon, we used to hold our babies and our food in there as well. So it represents that nurturing spirit.

You have the boomerang which represents returning to culture. And then you have the bull roarer, which represents communication. So each of those artifacts represent a different value that drives how we engage and how we interact in community as well.

You can also see too the different ripples in the different water. So in the middle as well, you've got this kind of meeting circle and you've got this body of water. And then you kind of extends out, you can see it start to ripple, and then you can see bigger waves form. So the symbology behind that is that each of us can create ripples, but together we can create waves.

We cut to a close-up of ripples in the water, then to an aerial shot of the river.

Bitja: I truly hope that anyone that engages with this artwork feels connected to it, feels proud of it. And for our First Nations mob especially, I hope that they see themselves in this story, in this narrative, and that it's really reflects what they're trying to do - whether it's a worker, whether it's a community member.

We cut to a series of alternating shots of the landscape and close-ups of the artwork.

Bitja: My hope also too, is that for non-Aboriginal people that that work in the Department of Health, that you also see yourself in this story. It's a real human story. It's about how we look after our community and our most vulnerable. Whether it's just through listening, whether it's through helping shaping policy, whether it's through capacity building, all those things are important to our community.

We cut back to Bitja looking into the camera

Bitja: And I just want people to resonate with this story and this message, that being, for everyone to walk strong together.

End transcript.