Metro Gallery invites you to celebrate Artist Raymond Young’s newest body of work Keeping Culture Alive.​

Living and working locally in Melbourne, Young’s practice first began when he partook in the Torch Project’s Indigenous Arts in Prisons and Community Program.

Young has now established himself as an innovative newcomer within the Indigenous Arts scene. 2015 saw the artist recognised with theVictorian Indigenous Art Award for three-dimensional works by the Ballarat ArtGallery, following his participation in numerous highly praised exhibitions –namely his showcase in the National Gallery of Victoria’s inaugural show Melbourne Now, Melbourne Museum’s Bunjulaka Gallery The Journey : Yannae Wairrate Weelam and Horsham Regional Art Gallery Wominjeka: A New Beginning. Such achievements lead to Young solidifying his works as prominent constituents of notable art collections nationally and internationally, including but notlimited to: The National Gallery of Victoria, Koorie Heritage Trust, Shepparton Art Museum, Jeff and Felicity Kennett and The McGregor Family collections.

Through the employment of shields within Young’s practice,the artist draws parallels to Australia’s battle with its colonial past, as shields and artilleries once clashed when European commissions arrived upon the shores. Young’s endeavour exists as an effort to regain the culture of hisIndigenous people - through the process of making, breaking and ultimately rebuilding, these poignant works reveal the process of healing.

This exhibition was made possible alongside The Torch’s program coordinator, Kent Morris and aims to highlight and commemorate its irrefutable accomplishments. The Torch Program provides incarcerated members from Indigenous communities with the tools to express and strengthen their cultural identity through creativity.