Published: 3 Nov 2018
A week of action to promote the Uluru Statement from The Heart and the call for a constitutionally enshrined First Nations voice to Parliament begins this weekend with an exhibition in Sydney by the artists who painted the Uluru Statement.
Artist Rene Kulitja was involved as a senior Anangu representative at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention held at Uluru.
Following the summit, she directed the painting of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in canvas form to bind the discussions that took place with the written statement in a tangible way.
Resolutions from the National Constitutional Convention were delivered to federal parliament but were largely dismissed by the Turnbull Government, despite being a defining moment in Indigenous history.
Meanwhile the painted Uluru Statement from the Heart travelled extensively around Australia with signatory and advocate, Thomas Mayor, gathering signatures and support from Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians alike.
The painting became the starting point for discussion for this exhibition and the artists came up with a concept they named Kunturu Kulini, meaning Heart Listening.
“We listen to our grandfathers and grandmothers and we follow their teachings: of all our lands and the stories and law that they hold. We can feel our families, our country, our culture in everything we do. We hear everything in our hearts. We hear it all with our heart, mind, body and soul as one.” - Rene Kulitja 2018
Mayor, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) Northern Territory Branch Secretary, is leading the week of action for all supporters of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, calling for the Voice to Parliament proposal to be put to the Australian people in a referendum.
“For more than a year I have travelled the length and breadth of our vast continent as part of the struggle to build a people’s movement for the Uluru Statement from the Heart,” Mayor said.
“To see the Uluru Statement’s aspirations delivered in full, we must persuade politicians to give the Australian people the opportunity to vote at a referendum to constitutionally enshrine the key reform in the statement – a First Nations Voice to Parliament.
“I am gravely concerned for our hope of substantive constitutional recognition, because both the Labor Party and the Coalition have already shied away from such a great task. They must put it to the people.”
For any actions undertaken, supporters are asked to post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using the hashtags: #FirstNationsVoice and #UluruStatement.
Media Contact: Thomas Mayor 0437 650 221
