Cherbourg community fires up with reborn ceramic venture
Updated
The Barambah Potters were a group of Indigenous artists from Cherbourg in Queensland's South Burnett region, making and selling ceramic artwork between the 1960s and 1980s.
It was Queensland's first commercial Indigenous art venture.
Thousands of decorated plates, bowls and ceramic art were sold to tourists across the world.
But the work and jobs for dozens of locals ended in 1987, affecting everyone in the community.
Employment opportunities were lost and all the infrastructure of the enterprise to make the pottery was taken away.
Now community members are working to re-establish the industry through the Refired program, to create jobs for the next generation and preserve their culture.
The original artists are back to mentor new talent and make the Barambah Potters internationally renowned once again.
The community has secured funding to produce and sell their work at an exhibition.
The group is hoping to raise enough money to buy their own pottery wheel and make their own dishes, rather than buying the ceramics to paint.
"It's part of our culture and we need to do this to show our young generation how to paint and get the feeling of our identity, telling our stories," Venus Rabbitt says.
"My paintings are about the animals and the plants and their spirits. They keep us alive and healthy. We want to keep the culture of our artists and our paintings going," artist Maurice Mickelo says.
"It's the first time I've done pottery but I just thought I'd give it a go. I've painted an echidna, porcupine. In the wet season when the ground is soft we go hunting for them and it's a big food source for us. I'd like to to see a job out of this for me, for it to lead to bigger and better things," Robyn Langton says.
"I'm painting about Palm Island — that's where my mother was from. She was taken away from there and forced to come live here in Cherbourg on the mission. This is me remembering her home," Rocko Langton says.
Topics: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, community-and-society, people, human-interest, ceramic, design, arts-and-entertainment, cherbourg-4605, qld, australia, toowoomba-4350
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