Small Brisbane-based responsible jewellery brand, Medley, has partnered with Indigenous artist Emily Mainhardt from Mils Designs in celebration of NAIDOC Week.
This is an exciting opportunity for the Medley team, who have set out a core brand goal to better celebrate First Nations people as well as more actively work to represent all the beautiful cultures that touch the Medley business, says marketing manager, Elizah Carson.
“This year we have worked hard to assess the main values we uphold here at Medley and make choices that better reflect the cultural, community and environmental areas our team are passionate about supporting,” she explains.
The art, created by Mils Designs, was inspired by this year’s NAIDOC Week theme ‘Keep the fire burning! Blak, loud and proud’, which symbolises the strength of the First Nations culture.
“I am a Yanga—mother; Burrgaila—daughter; Bayindjilla—sister; wife,” says Mainhardt.
“All of these paths have encouraged me to always be a blak, loud and proud woman. These pieces show the different elements of being an Ambi (woman): the strength it takes to be a mother, the wisdom that has been shared with me as a daughter, the lessons I’ve learnt as a sister and the love I’ve received as a wife. I want the viewer to look over each piece and feel the fire burning within me.
“You’ll see symbols throughout each piece that represent community (eg the circles in the centre with curved U shapes surrounding), woman’s weaving (the lines crossing over each other) and a journey from one place to another (the emu tracks and the flowing lines leading from one side to another).”
For Medley, partnering with Mainhardt is part of a greater, broader discussion and the brand is honoured to be able to shine a light on her talents and teachings.
“At the beginning of this year we updated our i=Change partnerships to proactively (and consistently) contribute to three core pillars, one focusing on providing better opportunities to young members of the Indigenous community,” Carson adds.
NAIDOC Week runs from 7 to 14 July 2024.
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