State competition wins for Coffs Harbour cultural assets Coffs Coast Coffs Coast - popup ad by News Of The Area - Modern Media - December 6, 2024 Left panel: City of Coffs Harbour’s Events, Sport and Cultural Services Group Leader Karlene McKeown. Image credit: Jacquie Manning. Right panel: City of Coffs Harbour’s Libraries Service Leader Karen Rowe-Nurse, Library Programs Facilitator Claire Halford and NSW Public Libraries Association President Romola Hollywood. A YARRILA Arts and Museum (YAM) exhibition and an innovative City of Coffs Harbour library program have taken out wins in prestigious statewide competitions. “Yaamanga Around Here” is a permanent exhibition at YAM exploring the history and identity of the Coffs Coast through themes of place, community and belonging, with Gumbaynggirr culture at its heart. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au It features hundreds of historical artefacts, photographs, artworks and digital media. Mayor Nikki Williams describes the exhibition as a “love letter to Coffs Harbour”. At the 2024 IMAGinE Awards in Sydney on 21 November, Yaamanga Around Here was announced as the winner in the “Exhibition projects – Museums and Heritage – Medium Organisations” category. The IMAGinE Awards, hosted annually by Museums & Galleries of NSW, provide a platform to celebrate the creativity, inclusivity, and resilience of museums, galleries, and Aboriginal cultural organisations across the state. The City of Coffs Harbour’s library service has also been recognised, winning the “Innovations Outreach Services Award” at the NSW Public Libraries Association annual conference hosted this month in Coffs Harbour. The successful project titled “Our Wild World of Reptiles” was rolled out to the community in January and included topics like snake safety and the importance of local reptiles in the environment. Sessions were held in Auslan and Kurdish Kurmanji and the event proved so popular it will be held again in January 2025.
