Former Bundaberg woman’s artwork chosen to done 2021 NAIDOC posters

21-year-old Maggie-Jean Douglas has connections to Goreng Goreng country. Read the full story on how she won the 2021 NAIDOC poster competition here.

Maggie-Jean Douglas' artwork was selected as the winner of the 2021 National NAIDOC Poster competition.

A former Bundaberg woman has had her artwork selected as the 2021 National NAIDOC poster competition winner.

The artwork titled Care for Country was designed by Gubbi Gubbi artist Maggie-Jean Douglas who grew up in Goreng Goreng country, previously living and working in Bundaberg.

Her piece was chosen out of a record 260 entries in the 2021 National NAIDOC Poster competition.

Ms Douglas said she wanted to create an artwork which showed how country has cared for and healed First Nations people in all senses.

“When creating Care for Country, I kept in mind that this meant spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially and culturally,” she said.

“I chose to create a bright and vibrant artwork that included the different colours of the land but showed how they come together in our beautiful country and to make people feel hopeful for the future.

“I’ve included communities, people, animals and bush medicines spread over different landscapes of red dirt, green grass, bush land and coastal areas to tell the story of the many ways Country can and has healed us throughout our lives and journeys.”

This year was the first time Ms Douglas had entered the competition.

The 21-year-old wanted to enter in the past, but didn’t feel she could represent previous themes well enough.

When she learned her artwork won the competition, she couldn’t believe it.

“To have created an artwork that the National NAIDOC Committee felt was a good representation of the theme means so much to me,” she said.

While she is very excited to have won the poster competition and to be involved in this year’s NAIDOC Week events, Ms Douglas said she felt ‘extra proud’ to be Indigenous during NAIDOC Week.

“My cultural heritage is something I’m extremely proud of and to be able to express myself through this medium means a lot to me,” she said.

“Telling my own stories and the stories of others is something I find deeply valuable because of the impact it can have.”

As part of the poster competition prize, Ms Douglas will attend the National NAIDOC Awards ceremony in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) on July 3.