An informal meal with great food, casual networking, and a room of others
who care about the arts, culture, and heritage in Katherine Region

Tuesday 7 June at 12 Noon at
Contour Hotel Restaurant

Let’s break some bread in Katherine East. Let’s muster for a meal in the thick of the dry season, and talk civic developments, cultural celebrations, and creative placemaking ideas. Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre and Katherine Town Council’s Activate Katherine Group have teamed up to organise this informal lunch as a way to bring people together for food and conversation.  And we’ve partnered with one of our favourite places, Contour Hotel, to host the gathering around a most delicious culinary experience. Everyone is invited: artists, organisation managers, civic leaders, educators, musicians, museum people, story-tellers, board members, and those who care about the creative life of the Katherine Region. A place at the luncheon table is $26 and can be reserved by clicking here. 

A Deliciously Informal Way to Connect 

The idea for the Creative Community Leaders Luncheon emerged from a recent meeting of the Katherine Town Council’s Activate Katherine Group—a volunteer advisory made up of community leaders. Usually meeting monthly, the group comprises friends and neighbours involved in cultural organisations, events, tourism, creative projects, and civic developments. After a relatively routine May meeting agenda, Godinymayin’s new chief executive Eric Holowacz proposed a departure from the norm: What if we held the next gathering as a lunch? What if we found a warm and inviting place for a meal and asked dozens more people to join a conversation? What if there was no agenda and we simply took a break with artists, teachers, tourism folks, junior staff members, Council officers, and anyone else involved in building a more creative and interesting place to live? The motion carried…

After a quick visit to Contour Hotel, a date was set, and a lunch plan was hatched. And now we invite you to come along for this first Creative Community Leaders Luncheon! Maybe you will sit next to the Mayor, or a well-loved tuba player, or a Jawoyn leader from the Bunatjarl Strongbala Wimun Grup. At your table might be a community arts activist, a creative placemaking architect, a visitor from a Darwin arts organisation, or a community radio host. 

But why? Because as our community grows and changes, we think it is important to bring people together and share conversations, ideas, and culinary experiences—without formalities and expected order of business. Because it is important to unplug from the digital world, break from the agenda, and emerge from our separate offices every now and then to join together in the spirit of collaboration. There will be no Powerpoint slides, agendas, lectures or panel discussions here. The Creative Community Leaders Luncheon is all about Katherine Region’s creative people taking a break, enjoying a meal, and talking to one another.

Because great things can happen when we break bread together—that’s why! So join us for a casual and friendly lunch on Tuesday 7 June at Contour Hotel—and feel free to invite a friend, a favourite cultural leader, the neighbourhood brass band, elected leaders, and any others who inspire you in the name of community.