Journey into the art - The Jujup

What do art, hairdressing and learning have in common?

Give up? They can all happen simultaneously when you create a foil collection such as The Jujup, which in Gurindji means ‘The Beginning’.

In their newest collaboration with Contemporary Indigenous Artist, Sarrita King, Foil Me explores the connection between learning and self with The Jujup. With each traditional Aboriginal symbol representing different teachers and encounters along the way, Sarrita depicts a child as they move through their education journey.

Join us as we delve into what each symbol means, and how they intertwine to guide us on our paths.

Community

Beyond family, maintaining a strong sense community is the key to supporting our children’s education. Teaching us to coexist and share our knowledge, our community creates a safe space for us to learn and grow together.

Child

At its core, this story is about nurturing children on their road to success. Aptly positioned at the centre of the artwork, the child is surrounded by various outside influences, from experiences to relationships, and the emotions they evoke. Collectively, these factors work together to create a strong sense of self that helps guide us on our journey.

Family

With us from birth, family plays an important role in shaping our sense of identity and teaching us the foundational aspects of learning. By illustrating family within the child, Sarrita shows not only that family make us who we are, but that we carry their lessons with us as we move through life.

Learning

The concept of learning is a contradiction: it’s constant, yet always evolving. Sarrita has shown this through lines linking the child to outside influences which, in essence, convey that our ability to learn is the vessel with which we move through life.

Trust     

Without trust, we may struggle to feel secure in ourselves and our abilities. For this reason, fostering trust in our relationships can help us build a strong sense of self. By representing trust as Elders and mentors, Sarrita conveys that these influences play an important role in our education as they encourage us to develop new skills.

Future

The future is full of possibilities, and while it’s easy to feel overwhelmed at the thought of the unknown, rest in knowing the best is yet to come. Represented as open spaces that suggest there truly is no limit to what you can achieve, our future holds endless possibilities for growth and expansion.

Experiences

Our lives are filled with experiences that ultimately shape who we become. Both the cause and result of personal growth, these experiences inadvertently teach us important lessons. While we might not be aware at the time, these lessons equip us with the knowledge and confidence to step out of our comfort zone and pursue our goals.

Image

Our self-image exists within us and is a manifestation of our inner voice; shaped by our experiences and the people around us, our view of ourselves is ever changing. As we grow and our experiences become more, so too does our confidence, which opens us up to a world of opportunity.

Journey

Our education journey is exactly that: a journey. We’re always learning and growing. Sarrita represents this journey as paths that lead to, and from, our learnings. Not only is education a journey in itself, but it guides us as we journey through life.

Connection

Connection exists in everything we do - from people to places and things. The bonds we share are vital to our social and emotional development, as they allow us to gain and share knowledge. Depicted by Sarrita as an ever-present entity, connection is responsible for shaping our identities and providing a way for knowledge to be shared.

Support

For us humans, security is one of our most basic needs. How do we achieve this? With strong support systems, both within ourselves and our relationships. By providing encouragement to do things we might not think possible, these systems nurture our growth and teach us important lessons.

While each symbol portrays a different teacher or lesson, they are all interconnected. And, while they all represent different things, they fall under a few key categories: the places we go, the people we meet, and the emotions we share. In essence, these factors shape who we are and provide protection as we journey through life.

As you can see from the descriptions above, our ability to learn is as constant as it is limitless. But learning isn’t always conscious; sometimes, we’re not even aware we’ve learnt something until time passes and the memory resurfaces. In a similar vein, we don’t always see how certain events can teach us and nurture our growth. From the people we encounter to the experiences we endure; these influences are central to our learning journeys.