While the weather may not have been on our side, it was all smiles at UCRH yesterday as we celebrated the launch of our beautiful new Yarning Circle as part of NAIDOC Week 2024.
The new Yarning Circle installation is an outdoor space for education, meetings and informal gatherings that reflects and represents Aboriginal culture. It was made possible with funding through the University of Sydney’s One Sydney, Many People strategy, which sets out the whole-of-University commitment to journey together, valuing, respecting and celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s knowledges and cultures.
Head of Indigenous Health at Sydney Medical School and Academic Lead, Aboriginal Health at University Centre for Rural Health Emma Walke said the Yarning Circle embodies the importance UCRH places on cultural immersion.
“We want to walk lightly on this country and provide a strong education and cultural grounding for anyone who spends time here with us,” she said.
“The Yarning Circle is something the Aboriginal staff at UCRH wanted to bring to life. It gives us a place to yarn, but it also a place of learning and we can use it to help teach our students in a tangible tactile space.
“We want to see everyone who works here use the Yarning Circle as somewhere to meet, talk, reflect and learn.”
The Yarning Circle’s creative process was instigated and lead by the UCRH Caucus Not Caucus (CNC). The CNC is an informal gathering of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who work at UCRH.
