Discovering Country

Overview

Every year as a kid my primary school took a bunch of jumpy, allergy-prone inner-west kids into the bush and made them walk for hours, skinned knees and sunburn be damned. There would always be a talk during the day, where, on the one hand, you could sit down, but on the other, you had to listen to park rangers carrying on about rock paintings and culture and just how old everything was. And we all sat patiently sulking, staring vacantly at some of the oldest artifacts of human civilisation, waiting for the icy poles we had been promised.

Thing is, a lot of the time in Sydney we tend to forget the amazing and unique culture and historical heritage which is all around us. As a friend of mine said, "it still feels like school." The Discovering Country initiative is working to change all of this, with an art exhibition celebrating the environment, history and indigenous culture of Sydney Harbour. The exhibit brings together some of Sydney's most talented landscape photographers, working with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Aboriginal Discovery Rangers, who provide information about Sydney's indigenous culture and the native environment. The project aims to contribute funds to further develop the opportunities of the Tribal Warrior Association, which is revitalising Aboriginal culture and empowering disadvantaged indigenous people. And it doesn't feel like school at all.