Local Bundjalung/Gumbaynggirr artist, Danielle Gorogo, has won the Clarence Regional Library’s Aboriginal Collection art and design competition. Her work ‘Islands of Breimba’ will feature in all print and digital branding of Clarence Regional Library’s Aboriginal Collection.

“I’m so excited to have won,” Danielle Gorogo said. “This painting is about the Mighty Clarence River which is the path the spirit ancestors took from the mountains down to the ocean and the islands that were created during that journey.”

“The Clarence River, the largest river on the eastern seaboard starts from the Queensland border, flowing south and north-east until it reaches the Pacific Ocean at Yamba/Iluka. The river system includes a number of river islands. The Breimba River flows through the lands of the three nations; Bundjalung to the northwest, Gumbaynggirr to the southeast and Yaegl towards the mouth of the river,” Ms Gorogo said.

The Clarence Regional Library works across those same nations and the Aboriginal Collection reflects that.

A digital copy of the work will be used to promote the library’s important Aboriginal Collection which features printed books (fiction & non-fiction), DVDs, e-books and audiobooks, ephemera, records, artworks, photographs, and access to online resources through the library’s website.

Clarence Regional Library launched the competition on Close the Gap Day in March with entries closing during Reconciliation Week in May. The works were judged by a panel of representatives from Bundjalung, Yaegl and Gumbaynggirr nations. The collection will be launched in NAIDOC week in November.

“Islands of Breimba” was created with acrylic paint on 100% cotton rag paper and the original work is currently on exhibition in Sydney