{"id":260452,"date":"2020-06-24T17:13:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T07:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=260452"},"modified":"2020-06-25T21:39:33","modified_gmt":"2020-06-25T11:39:33","slug":"country-comes-alive-in-mural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/06\/24\/country-comes-alive-in-mural\/","title":{"rendered":"Country Comes Alive In Mural"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Artist Niketa Law with her latest work … the large circle, at top left, represents Cherbourg while the open circle, top right, is a bora ring; farmland is shown with red and green parallel lines; the small circles (in the school colours) are St Mary’s students and staff members<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 24, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Murgon artist Niketa Law has created a new mural at St Mary’s Catholic College in Kingaroy as part of the school’s Bunya Dreaming Garden.<\/p>\n

Niketa – who is the Indigenous Support Officer at the school – wanted to repaint the site as a gift to the new college principal, Carmel O’Brien, who began work this year.<\/p>\n

The former mural, unveiled in 2013, had not weathered well over the past seven years.<\/p>\n

Niketa worked on the new painting during the COVID-19 shutdown in January.<\/p>\n

It was officially opened and blessed by local Catholic parish priest Fr Chukwudi Chinaka during the school’s recent Reconciliation Week activities.<\/p>\n

Because of gathering restrictions, the ceremony was livestreamed to students in their classrooms.<\/p>\n

“The mural is my interpretation of our surroundings here on Wakka Wakka country,” Niketa said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The top left hand corner pays homage to Cherbourg. There are five lines, which reminds us that Cherbourg was created by five tribes.<\/p>\n

“Farming is an important way of life here, so that needed to be on the mural.<\/p>\n

“Water plays an important role in my culture and we are blessed to have many rivers and dams in our local area.<\/p>\n

“I included a bora ring because in my culture they are special places and we are lucky to have a few bora rings locally.<\/p>\n

“The traditional Aboriginal symbol in the bottom left hand corner is what we do here at school: sharing, listening and learning.<\/p>\n

“The circles represent the students and staff at St Mary’s.”<\/p>\n

Footnote:<\/strong> Kingaroy Art Gallery will be hosting an exhibition of Niketa’s work in September. This will be her second exhibition; her debut in 2018 attracted lots of positive reactions.<\/p>\n

Related articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n