Year of Indigenous Languages Community Print Project

Vicki Couzens, a prominent artist and Gunditjmara Keerray Woorroong woman from the Western Districts of Victoria, was awarded the prestigious Australian Print Workshop (APW) Collie Print Trust Printmaking Fellowship in 2018 enabling her to undertake a major collaborative project conceived in two parts, over two years (2018 & 2019). In addition to being a highly respected multidisciplinary artist, Vicki has been a major figure in the Aboriginal Language Reclamation and Revitalisation movement.

The first part of the project in 2018 involved Vicki collaborating with APW’s Senior Printers to produce three large-scale original lithographs. This was followed in 2019 by Vicki and APW working in partnership to present a two-day ‘community workshop’ with eight First Nations artist participants from Victoria.

The eight artists were selected by Vicki - Graham Braydon, Gina Bundle, Marlee Bundle, Kaitlyn Healy, Lee Healy, Jade Kennedy, Brett Lee and Julie Saylor-Briggs – and were welcome participants in the workshop held at APW over 21 and 22 February 2019.

APW’s Senior Printers worked closely with each artist to teach and guide them through the print process. The process culminated with each artist producing an etching, the first opportunity to engage with the etching process for most artists in the group.

The works created by each artist responded to the theme of Indigenous Languages, in celebration of the 2019 United Nations Year of Indigenous Languages and were exhibited alongside Vicki Couzens’ Fellowship lithographs in the APW Gallery from April to May 2019.