The Hospital Research Foundation (THRF) Group – Creative Health celebrated the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders through a series of events earlier this year.
During Reconciliation Week, which took place from 27 May to 3 June, Creative Health music therapists John Lattin and Dr Patsy Tan invited musicians Aaron Fraser and Basso Edwards to perform at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Aaron returned to the RAH during NAIDOC Week in July for another performance and was this time joined by Myles Turner.
Creative Health music therapists, Dr Patsy Tan and John Lattin, with Basso Edwards and Aaron Fraser.
Aaron and Basso are current students at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) at the University of Adelaide, while Myles is a CASM alumnus.
The performances were designed to champion Indigenous voices and were so powerful they literally stopped passersby in their tracks!
We were honoured to help facilitate these performances.
The THRF Group – Creative Health curatorial team programed a very special exhibition at the RAH’s Sir Ivor Hele Gallery during NAIDOC Week.
Presenting the works of Indigenous artists from the Iwiri Arts collective, the exhibition celebrated art that is both cultural and personal.
Iwiri was established in 2018 as a meeting place and cultural hub for First Nations people who had moved to Adelaide due to chronic health conditions and lack of services in their communities.
It has a focus on emotional, mental and cultural wellbeing.
‘Sea of Hands’.
Elsewhere, diversional artist and Activity Hub Coordinator Brad Wilson and his patients at the Repat Hospital’s Activity Hub teamed up to create a special poster for NAIDOC Week.
Called ‘Sea of Hands’, the poster was decorated by volunteers, patients and staff across SA Health, as well as staff from across the THRF Group.
Each hand features the name of the maker as well as a commitment to championing First Nations voices.
The original template for the hand was modelled on one of Brad’s patients, Kinglsey.
During assembly, Brad and his patients noticed that the warm colours of the hands looked like fire, which tied in perfectly to this year’s NAIDOC Week theme ‘Keep the Fire Burning’.
