The latest chapter in our partnership is anchored in creative play sessions held on Game Days at the Club headquarters, delivered by a team of Polyglot artists who have all previously been part of our collaboration. They will work with the Club’s children and young people to facilitate their individual and collective understanding of their place and power in the world.
In 2025 our activities are connected to food and the creation of a Rumba Café, using various artistic mediums – ceramics, painting, wearable art like t-shirts and medals, radio broadcasting and menu creation – to explore agency, creativity and cultural expression in meaningful and joyful ways.
Our 2025 Kids Collaboration with Rumbalara Football Netball Club is part of Polyglot’s Creative Kids Thrive! project, supported by VicHealth.
Our relationship with the Club began with First On The Ladder, a three-year art-meets-sport collaboration between Polyglot and Beyond Empathy, in partnership with Rumbalara and the Moree Boomerangs in northern New South Wales. First On The Ladder ran from 2017–2019 and centred on the young people from these two First Nations sports clubs – celebrating their culture and achievements through a range of creative experiences including filmmaking, street art, radio broadcasting and play workshops.
The opportunity for Polyglot to work collaboratively and to co-create and exchange would not have been possible without the infrastructure, generosity and vision of Rumbalara and the Boomerangs. We are privileged to have had access to the strength of family and culture and the power of sport within regional communities, and to the breadth of engagement these clubs make possible. For Polyglot, working with Rumbalara and the Boomerangs has furthered our understanding and appreciation of how art can speak, work and act.
First On The Ladder had tangible and positive outcomes for Rumbalara. There was growth in confidence and connection in the participating children and families, resulting in stronger ties to community and culture. Rumbalara and Polyglot identified the strength and value of our partnership, and the benefits to its continuation.
First On The Ladder (2017-2019) was assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts funding and advisory body. Rumba Shop! and Rumba Gallery (2020-2024) were generously supported by the Newsboys Foundation.
