9th ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2012: Fifty shades of brown

Abstract

Ms Alison Page is an award-winning designer and Executive Officer of the Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance and the National Aboriginal Design Agency, and a descendant of the Walbanga and Wadi Wadi people of the Yuin nation.

Daughter of an Aboriginal man and “a ten pound pom”, Alison Page will talk about her own identity and family which is not defined by black, white, brown, or any colour. She will talk about pride where there once wasn't any. Passionate about the living definition of culture, Alison will unpack the values at the heart of Aboriginal culture and the many languages that are used through storytelling to express them. Connecting this with the broader process of reconciliation, she will argue why we need to embrace Aboriginal culture and its values as central to our national identity.