We’re thrilled to announce that we provided a community sponsorship to Boolarra Football Netball Club for their Indigenous Round uniforms, and even more excited to announce that uniforms were designed by Assembly Member and Gunggandji man, Mark Munnich.
To know Mark is to know his dedication to his community and culture, and his generous ability to express this through art. We were lucky enough to have Mark share the story behind the artwork, named Booraguman (Boo-rah goo-man) meaning ‘One Fire’ in Mark’s Gungai/Gunggandji language. He spoke of how it encompasses the circular journeys of individuals, families and communities – how in a community everyone is sitting around a fire, meaning everyone is side-by-side in “one mob, one spirit”.
“The top right-hand circle that is just red inside represents Boolarra Football Netball Club. The five circles underneath represent all the different Football Netball Clubs – Yinnar, Hill End, Thorpdale, Newborough, and Morwell East. In the middle of the artwork is the Morwell River, which is a significant river system to Boolarra. Around the bottom of the Morwell River there is a track that goes to another circle which has females and males sitting, this is Mirboo North Football Netball Club. The other six circles are the other Football Netball Leagues that now play in Mid Gippsland League – Meeniyan Dumbalk United, Stony Creek, Tarwin, Fish Creek, Foster and Toora.”
In a true demonstration of the circular journey, Mark described how the artwork was inspired by his partner Anne-Maree Stever and completed by himself using his cultural perspective: “From her visualisation to then the creation of what we see in a First Nation symbolic perspective – I love how the artwork did come out with a distinct Boolarra community feel.”
When asked why designing this artwork for the Boolarra Football and Netball Club’s Indigenous Round was so important to him, Mark explained “It was an opportunity to give back to our community where we live in Boolarra… Our club has eight active First Nations players that also represent local, region and state teams – so a wealth of skill. Boolarra historically does have a strong historical First Nations presence by the Gunaikurnai Nation. It was used seasonally, as the focus was to utilise the food sources from the area, there are scar trees scattered around everywhere which is significant to the use of the Morwell River as a food source.”
“The artwork is a bonus. It has been more about the opportunity to celebrate through something such as sport and the importance especially for myself and my family. Being a First Nations person in a small community such as Boolarra has been always a challenge. I believe in our town, and I personally think the Indigenous Round will be a way to form stronger friendships and capacity and for our community to lead in the reconciliation pathway. It provides us also an opportunity of sharing our culture.”
If you’d like to see the uniforms in person, Boolarra will be hosting Morwell East Football Netball Club this Saturday 13th July at the Boolarra Recreation Reserve, Park Road Boolarra. Ceremonies commence at 2:10PM and the Football and Netball games begin at approximately 2:40PM.
