The Stories Create Connection t-shirt was designed by Tanisha Lovett, a Horsham based artist who grew up in Stawell. Using the goals of ILF as inspiration, we decided to create a shirt that spoke to the importance that stories had to community, to understanding and to connection. Tanisha then used this as her inspiration for her visual storytelling. Each tshirt raises $5 for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF).
Tanisha is a proud Gunditjmara and Wotjobaluk woman who has lived between Halls Gap, Horsham and Stawell through-out her life. She moved to Horsham to complete a traineeship with Goolum Goolum. Five years on, Tanisha has won awards in her work she has done with the Indigenous community. In 2019 Tanisha won the Regional Development Victoria Leadership and Innovation Award as well as the Regional Aboriginal Community Justice children and youth award. She has even been a key speaker for international women’s day on 3 different occasions. Tanisha runs her own business called “Merindah Koori Art”. She finds it very therapeutic in creating artworks. Staying connected to her culture and sharing her stories and knowledge gives her great pride.
The ILF is a national charity working with remote Indigenous communities across Australia. Their programs focus on ensuring access to quality, culturally relevant resources - including books in First languages - publishing community stories, and empowering children and families to lead their own literacy futures. To date, they have gifted 537,000 books to over 400 remote communities, supported 83 playgroups with their early literacy program, and published 103 books reflecting 26 Indigenous languages.