TAC's Reflect RAP artwork
A striking painting by Geelong local Indigenous artist Norm Jurrawaa Stanley will feature in the Transport Accident Commission’s Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan.
Norm, who lives on Wadawurrung Country and is connected with the Kurnai/Wotjobaluk people of Victoria, had his artwork commissioned by the TAC after an expressions of interest process.
The TAC asked for submissions to reflect its reconciliation journey and represent all Victorian Aboriginal people and landscapes, as well as the TAC’s goals around road safety.
Aptly named The roads that keep us connected, the artwork will feature on the cover of the TAC’s RAP Reflect and throughout the document, once it is endorsed by Reconciliation Australia.
Above: The Roads that keep us connected
About the artist, Norm Stanley
A proud Aboriginal man with heritage connected to the Kurnai and Wotjabaluk people of Victoria, Norm is also a musician, artist and storyteller born on Wadawurrung Country.
"I am a proud father of five children who were all born and live here on Wadawurrung Country too. Sharing the love I have for my culture is my life passion. I follow in the footsteps of my ancestors by honoring and sharing the stories of land, life and culture through the many different art forms that I am continuing to practice," he said.
With over 25 years’ experience in education, music and art, Norm shares the below statement he wrote as he walks his journey:
“Our stories are the oldest stories in the world. Our ancestors passed these stories down to us over thousands of years and across hundreds of generations. Now we have a role to play, we have become the holders of these stories. We are now The Keepers of the flame”.
About the artwork, in Norm's words
The background represents our beautiful land and waterways of Victoria. At the bottom left-hand corner, there is a roundabout. This represents the many directions we may take on our journeys.
More importantly, it represents the TAC target in the centre and the target number of zero surrounding the target. This sits at the start of the roads that keep us connected.
Traditionally, we followed our waterways, our rivers, creeks and streams much the same as we do our roads today. We had songlines to follow like a GPS and rules connected to them to keep us safe and to guide us on our journey.
The roads that travel around the canvas are not as they would be on a map. They represent to me the roads I like to follow when we go for our travels; Barwon Heads, Torquay, Great Ocean Rd, Mildura, Lakes Entrance, Hamilton to name a few.
The red circles/campfires represent all 38 tribes that belong to what we now call Victoria, some are bigger than others. The white dots surrounding the larger campfires represent the five-year average of lives lost on our roads (256).
Each campfire has 17 dots, but one has 18. The 18th dot is a personal one for me and makes the extra number to get 256.
Artist Norm Stanley with his artwork 'The Roads that keep us connected'.