For Indigenous artist Greg Joseph, patience is learned art

Patience to sit, and listen and learn. To think about where he came from, to watch his aunties and uncles as they sat and painted, and to start doing it himself.

Growing up on Yidinji country in Cairns, he was surrounded by artists.

"You've got to really show that patience as an artist here," he says.

"Once [my family] could see I showed that patience, is when they sat down and started to teach me."

It's the key to a lot of life for First Nations people, he says. The ability to wait, to see hard times through, to fight to the next stage, and then wait some more.

And this Reconciliation Day is no different, even with a newly installed Prime Minister who, just one week ago, maintained his commitment to reconciliation in his very first speech on the job.

"We've had no choice - we've had to be patient," he says.

"But at the same time, we've had to fight for what we've got, we stood up and fought for it. And especially to open the gates for our kids, to give them these opportunities to be doctors and lawyers and whatever they want to be.

"And I've been part of that, you know, I've marched from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy up to Parliament House, God knows how many times, but that was all part of it, was all for our kids' future, and making things right for them."

But nothing happens overnight. Today, with his own kids grown up, Joseph works with young Indigenous people to try and teach them the same patience he learned all those years ago.

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He runs the Burrunju Aboriginal Art Gallery, which sits on the lakeside site that was once earmarked for the National Museum of Australia at Yarramundi Reach.

The gallery is a social enterprise devoted to art and cultural education, a place to connect non-Indigenous people to the history of the country, and introduce kids to their own culture.

It's also a tranquil pocket in the middle of Australia's bush capital, where the land stretches down to the lake, and Government House is visible through the trees and across the water.

Apart from greeting art-lovers, welcoming tourists and working with businesses and government departments - it's a favourite place for ambassadors and visiting diplomats to visit and pick up authentic Indigenous works - the gallery helps young people referred there by the Gugan Gulwan Youth Centre.

"We've got kids from all different ages that come in, and a lot of them have got problems, they've grown up in the streets, have been kicked out of homes," Joseph says.

"And so we try and get a bit of proudness back in them, which is finding out where they come from, who they are.

"And then the very important part of the cultural side is art, so we can start teaching them that, and it's amazing what these kids are coming up with, once you give them a little bit of time and patience."

Just as people are transformed by seeing Indigenous art up close, whether it's ancient rock paintings or spectacular modern canvases, Joseph says he's seen the transformation over and over when young people are first exposed to traditional practices.

"They've all grown up in the city, so as you can imagine, they haven't had that experience of growing up out bush, or cultural experiences," he says.

"We've seen it firsthand, you know, and even better, a couple of years down the track, you see these kids again, and they're doing really well. They've got good jobs, they're married, settled down, and it makes you feel good, because you feel like you're a part of that, you've had something to do with it. And these kids never forget."

And eventually, he says, the wider efforts of Indigenous people to stand up for their culture will pay off too.

"Years ago it was never taught in schools, so the rest of Australia really didn't have much understanding about Aboriginal culture, and the way we live and what we did," he says.

"And so now, as part of reconciliation, we as part of the gallery, it's all about sharing. And for people who don't know, geez, we're only too happy to sit down with them and explain to them different parts of the culture ... and through that, they're getting a better understanding, of not only Aboriginal people, but their backyard."

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