Indigenous artist Kobi Sainty admits he didn’t know much about Tweddle when the child and family health service provider asked him to paint a mural at one of its new facilities.
That soon changed when Sainty met with Tweddle staff after he was commissioned to enhance cultural safety for its Werribee early parenting centre
(EPC) as part of a $163 million expansion and upgrade funded by the state government.
“The values that Tweddle holds really inspired me to create something special for families and for my community to have these safe spaces,” said Sainty who was back at the centre last week as part of a mini-documentary that has been launched detailing how it came about.
In the documentary filmed by LifeBuoy Video, the Bunurong man explained the importance of creating safe spaces.
“For this project, I initially visited the site to see the location. It’s very close to the Werribee River, which is significant country for Bunurong people,” he said.
“I was fortunate that the Tweddle team gave me the freedom to create what I thought would work best.”
That creation is a mural with flowing lines in the centre’s large scale family play room.
“The flowing lines represent the Werribee River and touches on our connection to country and water,” he said, adding that having the mural in a children’s play room was especially important.
“Especially as children, they’re sponges, and these experiences will play a big role in how they grow up to be young adults, understanding and appreciating other cultures and their similarities.”
Tweddle chief executive Liz Murdoch said artwork’s had an important message.
“Through Kobi’s art, we are reminded daily of the importance of values, caring for nature, respect for those who have gone before us, and creating welcoming spaces for not only First Nations families, but for all cultural groups raising babies and children in Wyndham.”
To view the mini-documentary, visit: www.tweddle.org.au/tweddle-reconciliation-journey/
Cade Lucas
