Case Study: Wirimbili Cultural Experience, Kandos/ Rylstone

Wirimbili Cultural Experience, North East Wiradjuri Cultural Centre

Location: Kandos

Offers: Wiradjuri cultural tour of Wollemi National Park

Callum Robinson spoke to: Emma Symes with Leanne Wicks

Once home to significant cement-making and coal industries, Kandos is a small Central West town that is in the process of remaking itself as a centre for culture. A scenic snapshot of the early twentieth century located at the foot of Cumber Melon Mountain, Kandos makes for a charming day trip from nearby regional centres Bathurst, Lithgow, and Mudgee. A tourism body for Kandos and neighbouring Rylstone is in development with the local business chamber, representing a growing industry. Last year, Cementa, a biannual contemporary arts festival that has grown significantly in regional and national importance, celebrated eleven years in operation. But of course, culture has existed here much longer than the arts festival or cement works.

Traditionally the home of the Dabee tribe of the Wiradjuri people, Kandos is now a home for the North East Wiradjuri Cultural Centre, host to art exhibitions, educational and traditional craft workshops, and a place for a connection to language, people, and cultural healing. Along with WAYOUT Artspace, an artist run initiative and gallery featuring First Nations and regional artists, the Cultural Centre represents a permanent establishment of arts and culture’s presence in Kandos. Nearby is Ganguddy (Dunns Swamp) and the Wollemi National Park, a protected wilderness area perfect for tranquil camping, bushwalking and canoeing, but also a place for learning.

It is here that Emma Syme, a local Dabee-Wiradjuri woman, meets visitors for Wirimbili Cultural Experience. As part of these experiences, Emma offers a Welcome to Country, discusses the Wiradjuri history of the area, gives demonstrations of bush tucker, possum-skin cloaks and traditional dances, and generally has a yarn with her guests. Groups of up to thirty, often school and university groups from outside the region, gain insight through Emma into the local Wiradjuri culture and perspectives on knowing and caring for Country. All the feedback so far indicates that this experience is not just informative, but genuine and authentic.

Engaging with Emma’s Wirimbili progam gives visitors much to take away, as she explains:

“When people are Welcomed, they’re asked to treat Country with respect. When people connect with the environment, they’re more likely to be mindful of it going forward. I encourage people to make connections where they live too, with the land and with mob.”

Going forward, the plan is to deliver Wirimbili Cultural Experience to more sites nearby, offering Wiradjuri land knowledge as a service to private properties as well.

The operation was launched just before the pandemic, and so unfortunately was knocked back for a couple of years, but has since developed steadily. Leanne Wicks, who is integral to WAYOUT and Cementa Festival and handles much of Wirimbili’s promotion and logistics, feel that they’re still just getting started.

Wirimbili Cultural Experience at Ganguddy has recently been listed with NSW National Parks, as well as on Humanitix, and they’ve received great advice and help from the team at ATDW (Australian Tourism Data Warehouse). Much like the general tourism industry in the Rylstone-Kandos area, things are picking up, there’s opportunity being recognised and explored.

Whether it’s a retreat into the pristine, unimaginably ancient Wollemi National Park, or diverse and boundary-pushing new art from the WAYOUT collective, Kandos represents a place of potential for reconnection with the land, with other people and with the self. This combination of contemporary arts, First Nations culture, and the great outdoors has a proven appeal, a natural overlap in audiences, and could be a real winner with increased investment and exposure.

Three tips:

- Authenticity is what visitors really want, so have a yarn with them.
- Culture, whether it’s ancient or just emerging, is inextricably tied to place and the experience or product you’re offering should reflect that.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment with something no one else is doing nearby.