NAIDOC 2020 in Makassar. NAIDOC 2020 in Makassar. The cultural bonds that brought joy in the time of COVID-19.

This year the Australian Consulate General in Makassar, Sulawesi celebrated NAIDOC week with a virtual exhibition of works by Makassan and Indigenous Australian Yolnu artists at the Rumata Art Space. The event was further affirmation of a deep relationship between the Makassan and Yolnu peoples that started centuries ago with trade.

Nurabdiansyah (far right), Yolnu artist Arian Pearson (2nd from left) and other Makassan artists having their picture taken after the farewell party at Bawaka. Source: Photo courtesy Nurabdiansyah, Bawaka 2018.

Abi Nurabdiansyah is a visual artist and a lecturer in visual communication at Makassar State University.  He has shared life, history and art with his Yolnu brothers and discovered how much they have in common across all aspects of life. Abi explains that the cultural bond is so strong that even their languages share an extraordinary number of words.

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Nurabdiansyah one of the Indonesian artists on the Makassar-Yirrkala Arts Exchange observing a Yolnu artist at work at Yirrkala Arts Centre, Dec 2018. Source: Photo by Nurabdiansyah - Arnhem Land, 2019