Burrunju Aboriginal Corporation
Annual Report
2013-2014
Artworks by our youth - who started painting during high school both developing their own stories
for their painting.
Painting by Matthew Joseph – Title Living Earth
Artist Calvin Butler – Title Food Chains
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Board Members
Chairperson
Dale Huddleston
Deputy Chairperson
Kate Williams
Treasurer
Dean Jard
Secretary
Mark Huddleston
Board Member
Mick Ella
Staff Members
Wayne Williams
Manager – Indigenous Community Links
Michael Moran
Office Administration – Indigenous Community Links (Part-time)
Linda Huddleston
Lyn Talbott
Coordinator - Art Gallery
Project Officer – Art Gallery
Meg Huddleston
Office Manager
Contact Details
Address:
Burrunju Home Office, 36/35 Sidney Nolan Street Conder 2906
Phone 02 62848229 Fax 02 62948228 email burrunju@indigenoussupport.org.au
Indigenous Community Links,216 Crawford Street, Queanbeyan 2620
Phone 02 62973520 Fax 02 62981647
Email wayne@indigenoussupport.org.au
Art Gallery 245 Lady Denman Drive, Yarramundi Reach
Phone 02 62514371 Fax 62518312
Mobile 0400781416
email linda@indigenoussupport.org.au
Email lyn@indigenoussupport.org.au
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Burrunju Aboriginal Corporation
Chairperson’s report ending June 2014
I wish to thank the Board and members for their support during the year particularly during NAIDOC week and
the development of art and culture workshops for schools and agencies.
Burrunju Aboriginal Corporation is a not-for-profit corporation, registered under the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous
Corporations and is endorsed as DGR and charitable organisation.
Burrunju were funded for two major programs during 2013-2014, the Indigenous Community Support Service and the Art
and Cultural Program. We also received oneoff funding for various other activities throughout the year
Indigenous Community Support Service
Provided an internet access and referral service to the Indigenous community at Queanbeyan. This program has been
operating since 2009 and funding ceases in 2015.
Art and Cultural Program
Allows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create artworks for exhibition in the Aboriginal Arts and Crafts Gallery
for some 35 artists in the ACT and nearby regions. Community members and schools are attending workshops at the art
gallery, joining n art sessions and learning about Aboriginal history and culture. Bridging the gap between non Indigenous
and Indigenous peoples.
Apart from funding grants and sales commissions, Burrunju relies on volunteers, drawn from community members and
from specialist groups like Indigenous Community Volunteers (ICV). These volunteers and their organizations provide
services directly (eg. staffing of the gallery, running openings and exhibitions), or by pro bono contributions (eg legal
services and business planning, social networking), and from varieties of in-kind assistance (eg specific skills training and
transfer, community development strategies).
2013-2014 Funding received for major programs,

Indigenous Community Support Service (CSS), to provide an internet service for the Queanbeyan
community
$156.464 funded PMC (previously FHACSIA)
.

Arts and Culture Program
$105,000 funded PMC Arts
Funding received for additional community events;

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1,000 NSW Government – NAIDOC at Queanbeyan
5,000 ACT Government– Festival day at Burrunju Art Gallery
9,504 ACT Government – Leadership
1,500 Queanbeyan City Council – Art Exhibition at the Q Theatre
2,777 Department Social Security – equipment (reception desk, bar-coding etc)
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Finance:
The audit report - receive d for 2014, ratified at AGM on 8/11/2014
Partnerships
Gugan Gulwan – working with youth programs at the art gallery
Yurauna CIT – organising weekly sewing activity at Yurauna
Habitat and Distance Learning
Other organisations and government agencies providing on-going support to Burrunju for their programs;
 Yurauna who provide the facility for the sewing activity,
 ACT Diabetes provide education on diabetes,
 Gugan Gulwan working with the youth in the art gallery,
 Ngunnawal HACC providing support for respite care.
Future Directions
Discussions have been held over the past twelve months for the future directions for Burrunju. Contact has been
made with Davis Consultants who are working with Burrunju to formulate a plan to present to the ACT
Government for the future of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture Centre.
These plans include; dance performances, cultural workshops, story-telling and the art gallery. The ACT
Government are currently looking at increasing awareness of history and culture for the Centre.
Dale Huddleston
Chairperson
September 2014
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About us
What is the mission?
Burrunju’s central purpose is to provide a venue for Aboriginal people to meet, communicate and to come
together through the medium of art in a culturally appropriate manner and environment.
What industry is it in?
Burrunju is developing programs in two business areas:
 Providing a consignment service for the marketing, sale and leasing of Indigenous Art & Craft
 Initiating programs to improve the resilience and the wellbeing of the local Aboriginal community.
What is the Board’s vision?
Consistent with the drive and vision of its founder, the late Bob Huddleston, the Burrunju Board has a vision that
includes establishing a sustainable business that:
 Delivers culturally-appropriate programs to improve the resilience and the wellbeing of the local Indigenous
community
 Creates meaningful and sustainable employment for members of the local Aboriginal community
 Ensures that younger members of the local Aboriginal community are familiar with their culture and heritage
so it can be passed on to future generations
 Forms productive partnerships with other Indigenous communities and businesses; and with organisations
that provide services to Aboriginal communities and businesses.
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Art Gallery
Since 2009 Burrunju art gallery has been exhibiting artworks.. There are over 300 pieces of art on exhibition at
any given time with some 35 artists continuing to create items for display.
The large canvas ,pictured above, was completed by youths for a Gugan Gulwan project.
Exhibitions
Over the years we have held a number of art exhibitions and art stalls at various locations eg Saltwater
Freshwater – Coffs Harbour, the Multicultural Festival in Canberra, the Tamworth Indigenous Showcase, various
NAIDOC days and activities in Canberra, Queanbeyan, Nowra and Narooma.
In May 2014 Burrunju Art Gallery showcased an exhibition of Central Western Desert Art brought to Canberra by
the Anangu Tjutaku Tjukurpa Corporation of South Australia. The exhibition was titled ‘Women’s Business’ and
the exhibition was opened by Minister Shane Rattenbury.
Other Burrunju Art Gallery activities include:

A Music Festival and Cultural Day at the Art Gallery in February 2014. Performing artists were;
Riverbank Band, young hip hop performers, Keisha Jamieson a young Aboriginal woman making her
first appearance in public who sang and played guitar, Johnny Huckle, the Solid Young Fella’s dance
group.
An art workshop took place at the Gallery for the young people attending the festival with a BBQ and
drinks were available on the day.
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A number of Workshops and Gallery Tours took place during 2014 and these are listed below:
African/ Amercian choir - special visit
April events:
Burrunju Art Gallery took part in the Community and Legal EXPO organised by Legal Aid ACT and held
at the Cutlural Centre. The Gallery provided an art workshop on the day.
May events:
After hearing about the ‘Women’s Exhibition’, a gallery tour was organised by a Catholic Education
Primary School for the purpose of viewing the artworks on display and listening to talks about women’s
business (as it relates to Aboriginal culture) during the tour.
A University of Canberra Tour was organised for a number of students completing an Indigenous
History and Identity subject in order to gain a sense of how art functions within Aboriginal communities.
During National Reconciliation Week a tour was organised for about 40 people employed in the
Government. This tour also included listening to didgeridoo performances.
Visits by local schools and government agencies are becoming quite popular and it is good to know that word
about the Gallery and what we provide is being passed along.
Burrunju works with the following groups providing a service to our disadvantaged youth and the general
community;
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Gugan Gulwan Aboriginal Youth for art programs and providing art workshops for disadvantaged
youth.
Yurauna CIT art students - providing a venue for art exhibitions, the expertise and guidance for
emerging artists in arranging artworks for exhibition at the gallery.
Bimberri Correctional Centre, arranging exhibitions of their artworks at the gallery.
Provide on- going workshops for the Indigenous community who visit the gallery and who are
interested in learning techniques for painting Aboriginal art and artworks.
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Larry Brandy, story telling activity at the gallery in May 2014
exhibition by artists from Anangu Tjutaku Tjurpa
Indigenous people
Future directions for Burrunju art gallery

invite Aboriginal groups in the ACT community to join with Burrunju in broadening the artistic, cultural and
welfare base of our present activities, and to invite them to share and contribute to Burrunju’s existing
diversionary, teaching, and social-cultural activities . For example, activities at Burrunju’s partnership
programs with Gugan-Gulwan, Bimberri, and Alexander Maconochie Centre and on the other side of that
coin, inviting non-Indigenous groups such as ANU’s Reconciliation ACT student program and ANU’s postgraduate TJABAL center to assist with Burrunju programs

establish a schools program to expose children to Aboriginal art, explained [and even demonstrated in its
creation] by Aboriginal artists whether in Burrunju’s gallery and [extended?] workshop, or in public collections
of Aboriginal art [eg the National Gallery of Australia (NGA).

expand the workshops physically to include new activities like, wood carving, didgeridoo making, painting on
large canvases, and other activities which may require expanded space for demonstration to groups or which
need extended time for production] this may require provision of work space outside the present buildings,
and would clearly depend on construction of an unobtrusive utilitarian building which blends into the semibush setting;
This would mean seeking funding for a demountable to be located in the immediate grounds.

informal utilization of open space outside the present gallery [eg the car park andthe grounds surrounding the
two buildings] as a market area [day or night], utilized on a monthly basis over the warmer months of the
year, at which the creation of Aboriginal arts, crafts, music, dance, bush skills, and so on might be featured
alongside stalls selling bush tucker and Aboriginal cooking, paintings and carvings, books by Aboriginal
writers, and so on.

extend programs beyond the present emphasis on the artistic and retail aspects of the gallery, to include more
broadly cultural activities such as dance, music, drama, writing;
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Developing Burrunju artists’ skills, and those of Aboriginal artists in the wider ACT community will occur as a
consequence of their interaction with the coordinator.
Meetings of the artists as a group will be arranged at intervals by the Burrunju program manager to provide
feedback to the coordinator, to the Board, and among individual artists interested in comparing their own
experiences.
The continuation of the gallery will;

sustain and expand Indigenous culture through involvement of local Aboriginals and Torres Strait
Islanders as painters and craft-workers providing artworks and artefacts for sale, as employees and
volunteers in the Arts Centre operations, as learners (and teachers) in children’s and public programs;

increase public awareness of Indigenous culture by providing (in the national capital, for the first time) an
arts and crafts sales and production centre based on local Indigenous art, and run by a local indigenous
community so that close interaction is possible (and is encouraged) between artists and artisans, on the
one hand, and buyers or students of the arts and crafts on the other.
The intent of this new direction is to deliver better informed and more integrated services while
enhancing cultural awareness in key service delivery areas.
It will strengthen the capacity of government to support Aboriginal and Torres Islander people, critical to
achieving success.
Burrunju Art Gallery is delivering a service that supports and promotes cultural awareness and cultural history
through the Arts program.
The Strategic plan for the Burrunju Art Gallery outlines the implementation of the delivery of this program to the
indigenous community and the broader community of Canberra.
During the past 4 years average art sales are $50,000 per annum of which 75% is paid to the artist and the profit
is expended on ongoing costs e.g.

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Canvas for workshops
Framing
Paint and brushes etc
The ACT Government has made a commitment of a new direction to deliver better informed and more integrated
services while enhancing cultural awareness in key service delivery areas. We see the Burrunju Art Gallery as
playing a major role in enhancing cultural activities in Canberra and require the resources to enable this to
happen.
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Artist in schools program
It is the intention of Burrunju Aboriginal Corporation to have trained artists available for participating in the Artists
in Schools Program. We would like to have at least 6 artists available for sending out to schools or for teaching
students in-house or at the Gallery (whichever is most suited to the school).
We are an art centre combining a gallery for display and sale of Aboriginal art and craft works, and a workshop in
which learners can be taught and practice essential skills in producing own artworks. We use Aboriginal artists
to expose children to Aboriginal Art that is explained and/or demonstrated in its creation.
Mural workshop at Woden Early Children’s Centre
by artists from Burrunju
Children attending a workshop
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Indigenous Community Links – Queanbeyan
Commenced operations in August 2009 funded through PMC till 2015.
The service is to provide internet service and referral service to agencies for the local community of
Queanbeyan. There are over 150 local community members who use the facility particularly searching for
positions on the website and contacts for other government agencies for assistance. The office staff has
provided support for housing, centrelink, legal and social support.
This has been a vital service for the local community.
ICL office assisted in the local NAIDOC days and art exhibitions at the Queanbeyan Q Centre.
ICL staff have played an important role as a conduit to the local job networks, who have referred clients to
access the ICL office for assistance in seeking job applications.
Other community activities in Queanbeyan
Burrunju were funded for the following programs during 2013-2014
Naidoc day at Queanbeyan – funded through NSW Government
The day was held in July at the Queanbeyan Park, with stalls from various agencies and dance performance and
entertainment by Riverbank Band. Indigenous games was provided by a local Aboriginal group for the young
people.
Walk across bridge Queanbeyan
Koorie network meeting Queanbeyan
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Community events
Cultural festival – funded by ACT Government
This was held in February 2014 at the Burrunju art gallery, in the afternoon and was attended by some 100
people. On the day there was dance performance by a new performers Solid Young Fellas, indigenous games
for the young people and art workshop and music provided by various Aboriginal performers.
Cultural day Feb 2014
Launch of SA Anangu exhibition by Minister Rattenbury
Annual Golf Day
Burrunju have held an annual golf day since 2009 in memory of Bob Huddleston. This is a health promotions day
about awareness of diabetes, community participation in sport and sharing cultures and stories from various
communities. ACT diabetes provide information and support on diabetes about;
 How to test yourself to check your sugar levels, monitoring blood glucose levels
 Warning signs about diabetes
 Hype-hyperglycaemia – what cause hypo’s and how to stop a hypo
 The need to seek medical help if someone recognises any warning signs
 Diet and nutrition, and the importance of sport and exercise.
Community interest has increased for the golf day with over 70 players registering each year from Newcastle,
Dubbo, Orange, Wellington, Illawarra district and Campbelltown as well as the local community. It provides a
great networking opportunity for our Aboriginal communities and reinforcing the need to have health checkups
particularly with the men.
Players
Lunch time
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Leadership Culture Camp - funded by ACT Government
Burrunju held a Leadership culture camp during the long weekend in October that combined with the NSW
Rugby League Knockout held at Raymond Terrace in 2014.
On checking locations found a suitable place for accommodating the group on a farm 20 minutes from the
venue. Our accommodation was one large cottage and a smaller cottage that could accommodate 20
participants as well as a number of parents. The farm was great with plenty of space including animals; goats,
chooks and horses which provided some fun for participants.
We arrived at the place on Thursday midday.
After lunch we had our first facilitator Dean Kelly who works for NSW National Parks. Dean held a cultural
workshop from 2.00pm till 5.00pm and regrouped after dinner till approximately 7.00pm
The group made spears and had some art activities. Dean spoke about our history and culture to give
participants an appreciation of their cultural identity. This was a vital part of the leadership program so
participants had the opportunity to talk about their heritage and culture and be proud of who they are. It was also
about respect.
The following day Friday, participants went to the football knockout and in the afternoon returned to the farm
where they had dinner about 5pm and our second facilitator, Leo Dynevour had a workshop which included;

How to build participants confidence to speak in front of a group
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How to set achievable goals
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The need to have a mentor to guide you when you needed help
Later on in the evening a campfire was lit and then a session was held around the campfire. This is the way it
was done with our ancestors and everyone loved this.
Burrunju works with the south coast to promote the governments’ policy for youth in sport and recreation and the
amalgamation of the Yuin Monaro football team is a key strategy to enhance community inclusion for improving
healthy lifestyles in our youth.
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