Aussie News - Issue 23 - December 2006
Kickin' Up Dust
Opening of Kickin’ Up Dust at Blue Penny
Museum, Port Louis
The High Commission has successfully completed showing its showpiece public diplomacy event of the year, the Kickin’ Up Dust Aboriginal photographic exhibition. The 44 outstanding photographs were on display at the public library in Port Mathurin in Rodrigues from 16 to 24 October and at the Blue Penny Museum at the Caudan Waterfront in Mauritius from 4 November to 2 December. Attendance at both venues has been impressive.
During his speech to launch the exhibition in Mauritius, Australian High Commissioner Ian McConville commented on the richness and variety of Australia's unique indigenous culture. In highlighting the increasing numbers of Australian's now identifying themselves as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, he noted that today in Australia the Indigenous population are proud ambassadors of the cultural and artistic heritage that has developed in Australia over thousands of years.
The High Commissioner said that the Kickin’ Up Dust exhibition continued the Australian Government’s proud record of promoting a positive contemporary image of Australia’s Indigenous peoples and cultures overseas. He said there was strong interest internationally in Australia’s Aboriginal people, but noted that less was known about the Torres Strait Islander peoples. This exhibition, he said, aimed to raise the profile of both groups.
Ian McConville discusses the photographic
exhibition with interested guests at the opening
at the Blue Penny Museum
Sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia, the Kickin’ Up Dust exhibition has travelled to over 27 different countries around the world, including Asia, the Americas, Europe and most recently in Africa. Rodrigues and Mauritius marks the last stop before the exhibition returns to Australia.
Whilst in Mauritius, the exhibition received the generous assistance of the Blue Penny Museum, IDP Education Australia, La Sentinelle and Scott and Co Ltd. The High Commission is also grateful to Mauritius Shipping Corporation, Mauritius Ports Authority, Cargo Handling Authority, Papols and the Commission for Arts and Culture for their assistance in taking the exhibition to Rodrigues