National Reconciliation Week
Explore First Peoples art, stories and catch a free concert celebrating Mabo Day this National Reconciliation Week (27 May to 3 June).
This year’s National Reconciliation Week theme is Bridging Now to Next, inviting all Australians to consider how we forge a future together, guided by reconciliation, and connected to past and present.
It’s a great time to explore some of the First Peoples art within our cultural institutions, and go on a First Peoples walking tour, to learn about the rich First Peoples history of Naarm (Melbourne), with an experienced First Peoples guide.
And to wrap up the week, all are welcome to come and enjoy the annual Mabo Day concert, celebrating land rights activist Eddie Mabo, whose legal challenge to the High Court in 1992 marked the beginning of Native Title in this country.
3 June, 5:30pm–8:30pm | Main Square
Join an evening that honours culture, community, and the extraordinary legacy of Eddie Koiki Mabo – a man whose courage and determination reshaped the history of this country. The program will feature live music, spoken word, short films, and a joyful ukulele sing-along, all creating a heartfelt and vibrant tribute.
Daily | Fed Square
Wander through Fed Square, along Birrarung Marr Walk or the Edge Terrace looking out to the river, to hear wurrung dhumbunganjinu (we speak language) – a sound work created by Wurundjeri artist and language specialist Brooke Wandin. You’ll hear the voices of Brooke and her family, sharing and revitalising woiwurrung language, as they tell the story of the Birrarung river, its place names across Country, and the way it flows. An accompanying video artwork also screens each day between 6pm and 7pm on the Big Screen.
Daily, 10am–5pm | KHT
Coming Home is a new exhibition by artist Dr Jenny Murray-Jones (Yorta Yorta and Baraparapa), opening 31 May at KHT. Her work offers a poignant exploration of family reconnection, delving into themes of Country, Kinship, and the enduring impact of colonisation and institutional life. Free entry.
Daily, 10am–5pm | KHT
KHT is proud to present Connections to Home, the first solo exhibition by revered Barkindji and Ngiyampaa Elder, Uncle Colin (Col) Clark. This exhibition showcases fifty of Uncle Col’s crafted artworks, including spears, shields, clubs, tapping sticks, digging sticks, boomerangs, didgeridoos, painted emu eggs, bowls, and paintings created over the past 20 years.
Daily, 10am–5pm | ACMI foyer
See the new 5-screen moving image work, Baan Biik Woora Woora Water, Land and Sky (2025), by artist Mick Harding (from the Yowong-Illam-Baluk and Nattarak Baluk clans of the Taungurung people). The work brings to life the vibrant sounds and movements of Country and native wildlife. It now sits pride of place in ACMI’s Fed Square foyer, greeting all visitors who enter ACMI via the heart of Melbourne’s Arts Precinct. The work acknowledges that Australia’s museum of screen culture is, and always will be, situated on Aboriginal land.
Daily, 10am–5pm | The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Wurrdha Marra means ‘many mobs’ in the Wurundjeri woi-wurrung language. This permanent yet dynamic exhibition space at NGV Australia presents familiar works from the NGV’s collection of First Nations Australian art and design, displayed alongside new acquisitions. Explore the over 150 works in the extraordinary Bark Salon, and check out the NGV’s website to explore the stories behind many of the works.
Weekdays, 1pm | KHT
Discover some of the fascinating local Aboriginal history and heritage of the land around Fed Square on a First Peoples-led walking tour, at KHT. You’ll meet at Koorie Heritage Trust, before heading through the Square to discover the significance of the Tanderrum trees. The walk will take you down to Birrarung Marr Walk, where you’ll learn about the “river of mists”, and hear some of the ancient stories of the people of the Kulin Nation.