Tamworth Regional Council has unveiled a new piece of Indigenous artwork by Gomeroi artist Tessa Reading that will become part of Tamworth’s branding over the next few months, to be integrated into uniforms, letterheads, and other branding.
“I was really honored to be selective as the artist I’ve bought and raised in so much so it’s really nice to see my culture being utilized and sort of represented across the community,” Reading said.
“When I was creating this artwork, I wanted to make sure I included all of the areas that Council covers.”
The new artwork is a stylised map of the Tamworth LGA, with larger townships of Tamworth, Manilla, Barraba, and Nundle represented in gold, with the villages in green, and the landscape in blue.
The people of the region are represented by the small U-shaped figures, gathering around the towns, and scattered across the land.
“Each of the towns and communities are represented, and also the mountain ranges and rivers,” Reading explained, “and then we’ve got the animals represented.”
“So we’ve got the kangaroos and the emus that are across the region as well.”
The design was held in conjunction with the Tamworth Local Aboriginal Lands Council, and is part of a broader move to acknowledge the diversity of the LGA.
Councillor Marc Sutherland, Tamworth’s first Indigenous councillor, called the unveiling a “historic day”.
“First seeing this image, I was breathless to be able to see artwork that reflects our community, that shares the story of our region portrayed in such an iconic way,” Cr. Sutherland said.
“In 2022 Tamworth Regional Council went through a process to make sure that the voices of people right across our region were heard and valued, and that was put into a communication strategy,” Sutherland said.
“Part of that was to make sure that the voice and story of Aboriginal people were valued across Tamworth Regional Council.”
“We have almost 10,000 Aboriginal people calling Tamworth home, and to be able to include the story and the voice of Aboriginal people within the corporate branding of the organization is a really historic step.”
Cr. Sutherland says the artwork would be integrated into the new town entrance signage that will be installed at the entrances of towns and villages across the LGA.
Newly-reappointed General Manager Paul Bennett acknowledged that Tamworth Regional Council has only been around for two decades, and said that the artwork represented the history of the land.
“This represents the connection the Gomeroi people have had with the land for tens of thousands of years,” Bennett said.
“It will be visible in everything we do as a corporation.”
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