Dominic College has unveiled a series of murals across its Kindergarten to Year 2 classrooms as part of the school’s NAIDOC Week celebrations.
The artworks, launched on Wednesday, coincide with the 50th anniversary of NAIDOC Week and feature native Tasmanian animals painted by local artists Jamin Kluss and Luke Emerton.
Principal Stephen Casni said the school was thrilled with the artists’ work.
“Their work has brought incredible energy and meaning to our learning spaces,” Casni said.
The murals span four classroom pods in what is known as the pulana Precinct, with each pod named after animals native to Tasmania using palawa kani language, with permission from the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.
The classrooms have been named tuminana (Little Fairy Penguin) for Kindergarten, larila (Platypus) for Prep, timita (Tasmanian Pygmy Possum) for Year 1, and tuti (Sand Crab) for Year 2.
Street artist and muralist Jamin described the scale of the project as initially daunting.
“It’s 16 murals, but the thing that fuelled us was the relationship that the students would build with these murals in the future, and how we could leave a lasting legacy for the students of Dominic College,” he said.
The artists worked with Aboriginal Elder Uncle Rodney Dillon and Waititi Culture to develop concepts that would resonate with the wider community.
“We were really keen for these murals, although immersed in Tasmanian Aboriginal culture, to also speak to our society and community at large in a really broad way that could be accessed and understood by all of us as Tasmanians,” Jamin said.
Emerton, a proud Tasmanian Aboriginal artist, said the pair worked in unison on each wall.
“Each room took about two days to complete,” Emerson said.
“Working here at Dominic is definitely one of the highlights of my artist’s career.”
