Hymba Yumba Independent School art show at Orion Shopping Centre

Ipswich indigenous students have been working hard on an art exhibition displaying the cultural heritage.

Hymba Yumba artists (clockwise from back left) Jamelia Maybanks, Jerimiah Wylie-Coolwell, Talen Bourne, andJanaya and Jinali Fox (front).

A group of indigenous students is celebrating their cultures through artwork with a pop-up gallery at a major Springfield shopping centre.

Students from Hymba Yumba Independent School will be displaying their works and artefacts from generations past along with selling artworks created by themselves and professional artists at Orion Springfield Central.

Hymba Yumba’s visual arts teacher Jessica Chesterfield said the pop-up gallery and store had been completely run by the students to celebrate their culture within the community.

“It’s entirely run by them,” Ms Chesterfield said.

“From designing artist brands into creating their own artworks, the finances, the layout, the signage, all of them has been completed by our jarjums (students) under their vision and opens next week.

“It has been incredible, [the students] are already really strong in their culture, and to have somewhere where they can celebrate that and share it, I think has been really amazing for them.

“They’ve really thought about the story that they’re telling here in the store from the artworks they create to artefacts that they have coming in from family members, some of which are two or three generations old, that they’re actually bringing in to exhibit as well up on our top shelves like the ancestors looking down at them,” she said.

Hymba Yumba students with artist in residence Serina Chong (centre back) and her daughter Evie Chong (centre front).

Hymba Yumba art student Janaya Fox said the pop-up gallery and shop allows the students to express their love for their culture.

“The pop-up shop lets us express our culture and express our opportunities here,” Janaya said.

“It shows that we care for our culture and spreads the word around.

“The paintings the jarjums are doing here shows us how they express their feelings and shows us what they can and can’t do.

“We’re doing the shop to sell our paintings and show other what we can do and have a bit of fun with it.”

Another Hymba Yumba art student, Jerimiah Wylie-Coolwell was excited to show off his work and said he was grateful for the opportunity the school has given with Orion Springfield Central.

“[Jessica Chesterfield] reached out to Orion and got us this amazing opportunity for the young artists coming through,” Jerimiah said.

“To me, [the artwork] represents different stories and the different indigenous cultures within Australia,” he said.

The pop-up gallery and shop will run for four days from June 25-28.

The pop-up gallery and shop is located on Main Street in-between Sportsgirl and OPSM.