The City of Hobart will today honour its past while welcoming the future by celebrating two great outcomes for the community and the capital.
Outside the Town Hall, a new Aboriginal artwork will be unveiled followed by a ceremony announcing the City of Hobart as an established member of the national network Welcoming Cities organisation.
The artwork, 'I am Country' by Aboriginal Tasmanian artist Caleb Nichols-Mansell, was unanimously selected by a specially convened panel as part of the City of Hobart's Aboriginal Commitment and Action Plan.
Mr Nichols-Mansell said the artwork took inspiration from the water below the city that moves from kunanyi/Mt Wellington down to timtumilli minunya/Derwent River.
"This water carved through Country and existed long before the concrete structures that now enshroud it," Mr Nichols-Mansell (pictured) said.
"The circular, vibrational pattern also alludes to the circular knowledge systems that exist within our culture and have sustained our practices for thousands and thousands of years.
"These knowledges reverberate through generations keeping culture strong."
He said he hoped his work would make the people of Hobart reflect on their own relationship with the city.
"This work invites the broader public to contemplate their own connection to Country whilst providing space and opportunity for them to acknowledge the Country that they live and work on here in nipaluna/Hobart," he said.
"The poem, I Am Country, is an explorative written piece that encourages the reader to imagine the person as Country or Country as the person.
"It is a gentle and soft journey into the heart and spirit of indigeneity among Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
"I believe this is an important step in recognising the land and culture that lives within and throughout the cities we live and work.
"My hope is that this sets a precedence for other councils and city leaders to engage Aboriginal artists and practitioners in building on this narrative and embedding Tasmanian Aboriginal art, culture, stories, and knowledges throughout the island.
"I'm grateful for this opportunity and hope this is the first of many more."
Hobart City Council Welcoming and Inclusive City Portfolio chair Dr Zelinda Sherlock said the commissioning of the artwork was the result of in-depth engagement process with the community.
"Feedback clearly indicated a desire for more visible acknowledgements of Aboriginal people, history and culture," Cr Dr Sherlock said.
"There was a particular desire to see these installed in the centre of the city and in council owned civic spaces such as the Town Hall.
"We believe we have achieved this with Caleb's outstanding piece and hope all visitors to Town Hall enjoy it and reflect on the journey of nipulana/Hobart's First Nations peoples."
Hobart is also celebrating its new accreditation as a Welcoming City under the national Welcoming Cities Network.
Hobart's recognition coincides with 12-month build up to the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with tomorrow (Saturday, December 10) Human Rights Day.
Welcoming Cities representative Sebastian Geers said Hobart had shown leadership in this area and had reached the standard to be officially accredited as a Welcoming City.
"There is strong integration of city plans and strategies that cross-reference aspects of welcome, belonging, and full social and economic participation," Mr Geers said.
"The Welcoming Cities network congratulates the Council and looks forward to following how Hobart's increasingly diverse community is positioned, supported, and celebrated in the next phase."
He said this status for the City of Hobart as a Welcoming City showed that Council had acted towards becoming a more connected and cohesive community.
"They have cemented their status as a member of the network and a driver of cultural change," he said.
"They respectfully acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land and respect their culture and identity.
"They seek to engage local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as leaders in welcoming activities and they recognise the importance of cultural diversity and inclusion.
"The policy framework that underpins Hobart's status as a Welcoming City includes an overarching Community Vision, the Capital City Strategic Plan, Community Inclusion and Equity Framework, Multicultural Commitment, and the Aboriginal Commitment and Action Plan."
Cr Dr Sherlock said this was acknowledgement of Hobart's positive attitude towards all communities who live in the capital.
"We are delighted to receive this accreditation and look forward to continuing work alongside the Hobart community to welcome our diverse community to this wonderful City," Cr Dr Sherlock said.
