Brisbane’s Masud Sanders has won Vinnies Queensland’s Reconciliation Action Plan Art Prize competition with his work entitled Until The End. The Reconciliation Action Plan is a framework to support the national reconciliation movement and was developed by Vinnies in consultation with Reconciliation Australia. Sanders’ work was one of five entries to be shortlisted for the prize, with the winning entrant having their work featured as the hero image and scoring a $1000 cash prize.
A Gooreng Gooreng/Munanjhali man, Sanders said he was thrilled to be selected as the winning entry by Griffith University academic Dr Bianca Beetson. “Finding out I had won was an awesome feeling and the prize will help me as I continue my Bachelor of Arts at Deakin University,” he said. Sanders described his winning artwork as a “[reflection of] St Vincent de Paul Society’s contribution to not only the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, but all people that Vinnies has helped here in Australia. It’s my perspective on what I think Vinnies key values would look like in a painting.” He said, “[c]ommitment, integrity, compassion and empathy are expressed through the representation of two Vinnies volunteers in their colour-blind effort to help as many Australians as their capacity would allow [while] the wedge-tailed eagle flying through a broken chain and lock represents the courage and advocacy of Vinnies involvement in reconciliation,” said Sanders.
Matt Nunan, Vinnies Queensland State Council Vice President and Vinnies Reconciliation Working Group member, said the Art Prize was a vital step in the roll out of the Vinnies Reconciliation Action Plan to be released later this year. “It was important to us as an organisation that we were committed to the process of reconciliation in more than just words, and we wanted to help a young Indigenous artist get started in their career,” he said. “We couldn’t be happier with Masud’s winning piece, it embodies our commitment to the aspirations of Reconciliation Australia, who work with organisations like ours to be more inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
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