The artwork for the Ringwood jersey this year was co-designed by two artists, Olive Snell and Sian Gillam. Olive is a Wurundjeri woman living in Naarm. Sian is a Walman Jano Yawuru woman who grew up on Whadjak Noongar Country and now also lives in Naarm.
The artwork tells a story of connection to Country and staying connected to your place. Ringwood Basketball Club is situated on Wurundjeri Country. To represent this, Olive designed a hawk which features on the centre of the jersey to represent Ringwood Hawks, our place, and what we play for. Aunty Gail Smith, a Wurundjeri Elder provided the translation of ‘Hawk’ into Woi-wurrung Language, which is ‘Wilgul’.
The dot work was designed by Sian Gillam, and it represents staying connected to Country as you travel through life, with the circles rippling outward but leading back to Wilgul. The artwork draws on the traditional Yawuru concept of Liyan, which speaks to connections to Country, to ancestors, to way of life and to spiritual and emotional wellbeing.
The shorts are designed to represent this year’s NAIDOC week theme, which is ‘for our Elders’. The shorts read ‘I pay my respects to Elders past and present’. This statement is one that many will be familiar with as it features in many modern acknowledgments of Country. It prompts reflection of how important our Elders are to First Nation’s communities. Their strength, wisdom, cultural knowledge, and the guidance they continue to provide.
We pay our respects to the Elders we’ve lost and to those who continue fighting for us across all our Nations and we pay homage to them.
Story provided by Ringwood Hawks
