The Fitzroy Primary School is located in the heart of Fitzroy and is responsible for the beginnings of formal education for the next generation of people. Due to the fact primary education has such an impact on shaping world views and ideals the primary school thought it was not only necessary but essential to pay homage to the traditional land owners by incorporating their art pieces in the children’s learning spaces.
Winya was able to provide beautiful bespoke ottomans that are perfect for reading nooks for the primary school. The ottoman and the collaboration lounge pieces are perfect for primary school learning and reading. The singular ottoman allows for individual students to pursue their own reading in a quiet separate space while the loop ottoman allows for collaborative work with reading which is particularly effective for students who need the aid of a teacher for reading or for students who are working collaboratively on reading related projects together.
The black topped ottoman combined with the black edged loop collaboration lounge creates a sense of general aesthetic and cohesion despite the stories on each piece being from different areas and created by different artists. The Indigenous designs bring a little bit of colour, life and important history to the reading nook. The ottoman illustrates the story of Damien’s families travels in Mt. Liebig, west of Papunya (NT). Damien’s great grandfather and his family are travelling through the desert towards Kintore, collecting food. In the bottom right hand corner, the sun is setting over a hillside. The family stops to camp at different places along the way. The red concentric circles are dry rock holes, and the blue and white concentric circles represent rock holes that are filled with clean water, that flows on into the creek. The red stripes coming out of the centre of the right-hand side of the painting lead to one of these waterholes – these are the tracks of the family walking through the sand. In this painting you can also see spinifex bushes (the yellow star-like symbols), and dry claypans with cracks in the earth.
Despite displaying different Dreamtime stories from different areas the pieces work in unity to create a vibrant and practical room.