Hobsons Bay City Council will reaffirm its ongoing commitment to reconciliation with a program of events to mark 2025 National Reconciliation Week.
Running from 27 May to 3 June each year, the week serves as a time for the community to learn about our shared histories and cultures, and to explore how we can all contribute to achieving reconciliation with First Nations communities.
Events across the week include Indigenous meditation and movement sessions and a screening of 'Murundak: Songs of Freedom' in Newport, weaving workshops in Laverton and cultural awareness training in Brooklyn. An exhibition featuring posters of previous National Reconciliation Weeks will also be on display at Hobsons Bay Civic Centre in Altona.
The events tie into this year's theme of 'Bridging Now to Next', celebrating the ongoing connection between past, present and future.
Looking ahead to Williamstown Literary Festival in June, prominent First Nations anthropologist and geographer Professor Marcia Langton AO will be joined by art historian Judith Ryan AM for a discussion at '65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art' at Williamstown Town Hall.
Also included in the Willy Lit Fest program is 'From Yirrkala Bark Petitions to Treaty' with writer, historian and broadcaster Claire Wright and advocate Inala Cooper, discussing the impact of First Nations activism through time.
Council is committed to the ongoing process of reconciliation, and will be working with the community to develop a new Reconciliation Action Plan later this year.