Indigenous livery lights up the Supercars grid with Aboriginal art

This weekend’s Supercars Indigenous Round promises to be a championship to remember, as Walkinshaw Andretti United unveils livery with Aboriginal heart.

The inaugural Supercars Indigenous Round burns with Aboriginal spirit in more ways than one, as racing teams debuted stunning Indigenous livery on Thursday.

Unveiled in Darwin ahead of all the action at Hidden Valley Racetrack across 17-19 June, the Walkinshaw Andretti United (WAU) car is adorned with an artwork called Community Togetherness, the result of a partnership between WAU, Optus and national Indigenous charity the KARI Foundation.

Assuming car 25 survives the weekend intact in driver Chez Mostert’s capable hands, part of it will even be auctioned afterwards to raise money for KARI’s work.

WAU driver Chaz Mostert will get behind the wheel of the Optus car featuring the Community Togetherness artwork as livery at the Supercars Indigenous Sports Round, 17-19 June in Darwin. Picture: Daniel Kalisz

Artist Brian Goonemah de Vries is a Wiradjuri and Kunya man with ties to Yuin and Budjari people and said the yellow lines in the piece represent journeys to places where communities come together.

“It is never one way in or out, and knowledge shared is always plentiful, very much like the Optus service outreach,” Goonemah de Vries said.

The meeting places are seen in the work’s large circles. These reference KARI’s work with diverse allies and service providers, bringing access and opportunity through sometimes very simple but essential things like being able to make a phone call and use the internet.

“A program is like throwing a pebble into water: from one big splash, many ripples are sent out and continue to travel,” Goonemah de Vries said. “These ripples will continue to grow and reach far and wide.”

Livery detail from the Community Togetherness. Picture: Supplied

As one of Australia’s largest Indigenous charities, KARI delivers education, sports, arts, employment, business development and community capacity building programs for Indigenous Australians and immersion and culture programs for non-Indigenous Australians.

KARI Foundation chief operating officer Cain Slater said sport was “amazing for Aboriginal communities”.

“Sport is the vehicle to talk about all the other jobs that are associated with it,” he said. “Whether it’s being the mechanic or on the marketing side of things, sport really has that power to deliver those messages … especially with young people with ears and eyes wide open.

“These guys (Optus and KARI) want to empower Aboriginal kids.”

If the vehicle emerges unscathed in WAU driver Chaz Mostert’s capable hands, part of the car will be auctioned to raise money for the KARI Foundation’s work. Picture: Daniel Kalisz

Over the past four years, KARI’s Optus partnership has delivered mentors, e-safety and digital thumbprint training and the Donate Your Data initiative. Mr Slater said the two organisations share similar values. WAU joined the “KARI family” to do something “that wasn’t just tokenistic”.

“They don’t want to just get an artwork and slap it on a car, they want to do something that’s going to have a lasting effect,” Mr Slater said.

Optus marketing VP Melissa Hopkins said the livery’s symbolism was “really exciting”.

“We especially love how the Walkinshaw Andretti United team have embraced Indigenous Round and we can’t wait to see the first-ever grid filled with Indigenous-themed liveries when we race at Hidden Valley,” she said.

All three WAU cars are sporting spectacular Indigenous livery, each with its own story. The WAU team (from left) Chaz Mostert, Jayden Ojeda and Nick Percat. Picture: Daniel Kalisz.

WAU team principal Bruce Stewart said it was “fantastic” celebrating the Indigenous community via the livery design.

“The KARI Foundation has been phenomenal to work with,” he said.

“This is something that has been supported by not only everyone in our team, but our entire partner group, which is really cool to see.

“The grid will look fantastic, we have a number of initiatives we can’t wait to bring to life over the course of … what is a really important weekend for everyone involved.”