Italian
Caleb Nicholls-Mansell è un uomo Palawa di Launceston, in Tasmania.
Viene qui a Rocky Cape, sulla costa settentrionale dell’isola, per riconnettersi con la terra.
Rocky Cape è anche chiamato Pinmatik nella lingua aborigena della Tasmania, Palawa Kani.
Il mese scorso Caleb ha lasciato il suo lavoro a tempo pieno per lanciare un'attività online chiamata Blackspace Creative, che vende arte e altri prodotti realizzati da aborigeni della Tasmania.
“So for me, creating Blackspace Creative, created the opportunity and gave those artists a space to showcase their work, showcase our cultural traditions, and kind of … prove those misconceptions wrong, that we are still here, we are still very proud, and we are very strong in our cultural practices and traditions.”
Attraverso Blackspace Creative, Nicholls-Mansell non solo venderà arte e prodotti aborigeni, ma farà da mentore per altri aborigeni creativi della Tasmania.
Quando era bambino, la famiglia di Caleb Nicholls-Mansell gli ha tramandato la sua eredità aborigena, ma a scuola ha incontrato difficoltà.
“I, and many other people who went through school in Tasmania, bore witness to our teachers telling us that there were no Tasmanian Aboriginals, that Truganini was the last one, and as someone with a proud, cultural identity as a strong Palawa man, that was really confusing and conflicting for me, and for other young people that I’ve spoken to, it’s a similar story and a similar experience. So for me, being able to break that misconception, and prove that we are still here and we are still really proud, is really important to me, and brings me pride in being able to continue our cultural story."
Jacinta Vanderfeen è una donna Pakana e ha fatto da mentore a Nicholls-Mansell.
Sostiene che Blackspace Creative è stata per lui una progressione naturale.
Il tema della NAIDOC Week di quest'anno, "È sempre stato e sempre sarà", risuona fortemente con Caleb Nicholls-Mansell.
Si augura che Blackspace Creative diventi un mezzo per i tasmaniani non-aborigeni per entrare in contatto con la cultura indigena dello Stato.
"I would like Blackspace Creative to become a common name around kitchen tables and family living rooms, I want Blackspace Creative to be a conversation starter, to open dialogue around Aboriginal Cultural Heritage in Tasmania, our cultural practices, our histories, the things that we’re fighting, this for me is a mechanism to bring the broader mainstream community over to our community and educate them around the issues that affect us, and hopefully bring them on-side. "
English
Caleb Nicholls-Mansell is a Palawa man from Launceston, Tasmania.
He comes here to Rocky Cape, on Tasmania’s north coast, to reconnect with country.
Rocky Cape is also called Pinmatik in the Tasmanian Aboriginal language, Palawa Kani.
Last month, Caleb left his full-time job to launch an online business called Blackspace Creative, that sells art and products made by Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
“So for me, creating Blackspace Creative, created the opportunity and gave those artists a space to showcase their work, showcase our cultural traditions, and kind of … prove those misconceptions wrong, that we are still here, we are still very proud, and we are very strong in our cultural practices and traditions.”
Through Blackspace Creative, Mr Nicholls-Mansell will not only sell Aboriginal art and products, but guide other Tasmanian Aboriginal creatives.
Growing up, Caleb Nicholls-Mansell’s family taught him about his Aboriginal heritage, but at school he encountered misconceptions.
“I, and many other people who went through school in Tasmania, bore witness to our teachers telling us that there were no Tasmanian Aboriginals, that Truganini was the last one, and as someone with a proud, cultural identity as a strong Palawa man, that was really confusing and conflicting for me, and for other young people that I’ve spoken to, it’s a similar story and a similar experience. So for me, being able to break that misconception, and prove that we are still here and we are still really proud, is really important to me, and brings me pride in being able to continue our cultural story."
Jacinta Vanderfeen is a Pakana woman, and one of Mr Nicholls-Mansell's mentors.
She says Blackspace Creative has been a natural progression for him.
This year’s NAIDOC Week theme, “Always Was, Always Will Be” resonates strongly with Caleb Nicholls-Mansell.
He hopes Blackspace Creative will become a medium for non-Aboriginal Tasmanians to connect with the state’s Aboriginal culture.
"I would like Blackspace Creative to become a common name around kitchen tables and family living rooms, I want Blackspace Creative to be a conversation starter, to open dialogue around Aboriginal Cultural Heritage in Tasmania, our cultural practices, our histories, the things that we’re fighting, this for me is a mechanism to bring the broader mainstream community over to our community and educate them around the issues that affect us, and hopefully bring them on-side. "
Report by Sarah Maunder
