Grant Award View - GA150902

To increase awareness in Japan of Australian Indigenous culture by delivering a live online experience via Zoom or similar platform to guests and staff of Saitama Children’s Zoo, Tokyo. Saitama Children’s Zoo has received koalas, kangaroos and more recently Quokkas from Australia to foster guests’ knowledge of Australian wildlife and Indigenous culture. Unfortunately COVID-19 has impacted visitation of these animals to tourists and future relations with Australian professionals. This project will address this gap, promote better understanding of Australian Indigenous culture directly at the zoo and the Saitama Prefecture. Indigenous cultural interpretation officers and performers, presenting from the Aboriginal-owned Yugambeh Museum in Beenleigh Queensland, will explain the Indigenous links to animals including quokkas, koalas and kangaroos, which are exhibited at the zoo, through a mixture of song, dance, art, storytelling and performance. The live presentation will enable guests at the zoo to ask questions of the presenters after each presentation.