A multimedia exhibition brings together different generations to answer the question 'What does it mean to you to be Aboriginal'?, Katrina Yu reports.
Katrina Yu

12 Jul 2011 - 10:38 AM  UPDATED 26 Aug 2013 - 9:20 AM

Indigenous culture is traditionally passed down and preserved through spoken word. Now a community in the Victorian suburb of Footscray are marking a new generation in Indigenous story-telling.

Using the latest app technology they are reaching out to new audiences and challenging old stereotypes about Aboriginal identity.

Multimedia exhibition 'Blak Side Story' brings together traditional owners, elders and different generations of Indigenous Australians to answer the question: “What does it mean to you to be Aboriginal”?.

No answer is the same. Participants speak proudly of their Indigenous heritage, but also often of rich multicultural and migrant backgrounds, reflecting the diversity of contemporary Australia.

Twenty-two personal stories are told through interactive digital displays, android tablets and large-scale portraits. From home viewers can engage with the project via its companion website which features a 'digital quilt.'

Artist Tamsin Sharp and photographer John Sones from 'Singing Bowl Media' collaborated with the Footscray Community Arts Centre to produce the exhibition which is currently showing in Melbourne's west.