Meyapliko Malang

This artwork tells the story of Newcastle’s (Muloobinba) City Councils’ Indigenous employment strategy, highlighting councils’ relationship to the local Indigenous community and the pathways into employment opportunities. The central figure of bright yellow has at Its centre a large meeting circle depicting the Council community, which is connected to three pathways leading to Local Aboriginal Land Councils that sit within.

Councils boundaries Awabakal on the South East, Worimi to the North East and Mindaribba to the West. The bright yellow used here symbolises hope. The small multi-coloured circles within the figure linking the council to community land councils have a twofold meaning: Firstly that demonstrate the pathways into council employment created and secondly they signify the people who work across the entities in building access to employment under the strategy.

The many red/brown circles, connected by a continuous pathway, surrounding the strategy diagram depict Aboriginal communities and clan groups across the region. This pathway is directly connected to Council’s Indigenous employment strategy depicted by the dark red vivid lines. Framing this we see blue and green waves of water which represent Newcastle’s (Muloobimba) beautiful beachfront location and the Hunter (Coquon) River, which intertwines throughout the countries depicted in the artwork.

This artwork was commissioned by Newcastle City Council in 2013