All over the world geeks unite a couple times a year to meet guests from their favourite TV shows, movies, books, comics. These are called Comic Conventions. Australia has it’s own comic conventions all year round with Supanova and Oz Comic Con.
All over the world geeks unite a couple times a year to meet guests from their favourite TV shows, movies, books, comics. These are called Comic Conventions. Australia has it’s own comic conventions all year round with Supanova and Oz Comic Con.
But can you imagine what a convention would look like if all guests and if the convention itself was just Indigenous. We’re talking Indigenous movie and TV stars, Indigenous authors even Indigenous cosplayers from all around the world.
Dr Lee Francis has done just this. Indigenous Comic Con began in 2016 and has been running for the last 3 years in the states and the best news is Indigenous Comic Con is coming to Melbourne in 2019.
This event will change how Indigenous people in the entertainment field are seen. We’re talking about us in film, TV, books and comics everything
Running any event is not easy but Indigenous Comic Con will be managed by a very extraordinary Aboriginal man Cienan Muir. Cienan is a 29-year-old Yorta Yorta and Ngarrindjeri man who lives in Melbourne. He is one of few Aboriginal cosplayers in Australia and is constantly amazing those around him. Cienan has been a cosplayer since 2012 where he attended his first convention with his girlfriend Heidi who is also an Aboriginal cosplayer. They instantly connected over their love for comic books.
This event will change how Indigenous people in the entertainment field are seen. We’re talking about us in film, TV, books, comics everything. I had the great pleasure of speaking to Dr Lee Francis when he was down in Melbourne a couple of months ago and we were talking about how important it is to show the mainstream we are the original storytellers and showing the young ones just how powerful they are through different means of expression. We have so many different ways of expressing ourselves, for me it’s comedy or writing.
For so long I have wondered am I the only black fulla who likes comics or syfy shows or anything like that?
Having Indigenous Comic Con come to Australia is going to change so much. Words can’t even express how excited I am for this. For so long I have wondered am I the only black fulla who likes comics or syfy shows or anything like that? Then I met Cienan and Heidi. What I love most about going to conventions is that you will make life long friends as you would at school or at university.
I have been going to conventions for the last 3 years and my life has changed so much, I have met so many different people just by my love of stories and how they are told whether through film, TV, books, comics etc. At these conventions you can truly be yourself and meet people just like you and even learn about how you can learn to tell your story through a costume, a written piece or a character you want to bring to life, these conventions are also great for networking plus you can make lifelong memories.
Finally if you want a taste of what Indigenous Comic Con is like and what to expect when it comes to Melbourne in 2019 check out their Facebook page and Cienan Muir’s social pages @ceejayandthecosplay for live videos and photos. Cienan was also a guest at the 3rd Indigenous Comic Con in Albuquerque, New Mexico in October 2018.
IndigenousX will be featuring more articles in the lead up to the first Indigenous Oz Comi Con in 2019. Stay tuned!
Today (June 7th) marks the final day of the Yoorrook Justice Commission hearings investigating injustices in housing, health, education and economic life for First Nations peoples in Victoria. These hearings are providing space for First Nations peoples’ to give evidence in a larger act of Truth-telling, to acknowledge and hold account the institutions that contribute to genocidal and discriminatory practices. But, Sissy Austin writes, we can not be selective of which genocides we choose to be outraged over.
The Yoorrook Justice Commission has been travelling across Victoria as part of its work to put the true history of the state since colonisation on the public record. The Commission has heard from thousands of First Peoples during the truth telling process – the first of its kind in Australia. Commissioner Maggie Walter shares one of the testimonies being presented today, from a First Nations man named Jarvis. Commissioner Walter has shared this with his permission.
The power of Aboriginal literature in the wake of Australia’s ‘No’
So-called Australia has a long history of white voices being the ones who speak on First Nations stories, and how we’re represented. Thankfully, Blak voices have been emerging in academia and literature, and more stories are being told our way. These Blak voices are especially important now, Darby Jones writes, in the wake of a failed referendum, where 60% of the nation expressed their desire for our silence.
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