This exhibition will be presented across a number of platforms. Large-scale posters will be pasted-up throughout the streets of Fitzroy and Collingwood from 20 July to coincide with Smith Street Dreaming; the images will be projected on the corner of Gertrude and George Streets as part of the Gertrude Street Projection Festival from 26 July to 3 August, every night after dark; and a suite of photographs will be featured at Fitzroy Library from 16 August to 8 November.

Fitzroy, Collingwood and surrounding areas are historically significant for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It is a meeting place; the cradle of Aboriginal affairs; the heart of social and political activism; the birthplace of important Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services and organisations; and the place where many Stolen Generations found family for the first time. People came to Fitzroy to connect with community, they gathered around Atherton Gardens, a place that came to be known as ‘the park’. Those who regularly occupied the parks came to refer to themselves as the ‘Parkies’. For a long time they have gathered in locations around Fitzroy and Collingwood. This is their meeting place; they come here to share what they have, to feel connected and to tell a story or play a song.

Melbourne-based photographer and musician, James Henry―a Yuwaalaraay and Yorta Yorta man―has worked with the local Parkies to create a series of portraits to celebrate the Aboriginal history and Parkie identity of this area, and to share stories of the lived experiences of some the Parkies who gather here today.