Healing Country Badge Making Workshop in Bendigo: Family-Friendly Indigenous Art Experience

On Hargreaves Street in Bendigo, Malamiya Mang - Healing Country Badge Making offers a low-key, high-meaning hands-on workshop where families create wearable art rooted in Country. Located at 273-277 Hargreaves St, Bendigo VIC 3550, Australia, the session is facilitated by Maddy Connors, a Dja Dja Wurrung, Yorta Yorta and Gamilaroi woman, and blends simple craft with cultural reflection. The workshop is straightforward: participants design a badge from scratch or colour pre-made designs crafted by Yarli Creative. Worktables are laid out with safe, child-friendly tools and bright inks; the room fills with conversation as kids and adults pin, paint, and personalise small rounds of wearable art. Key scene features are the communal workbench, stacks of printed designs, jars of colour, and a finished badge ready to clip onto a backpack or jacket. The experience is themed around Caring for Country, so motifs and stories often reference local connection to land and waterways rather than abstract decoration. Why this matters in Bendigo: the city’s gold-rush era streets and community arts culture have pivoted toward projects that foreground Indigenous voices. This workshop sits at that intersection, offering an accessible way to learn through making. It’s not a formal cultural tour; instead it’s an intimate creative exchange led by a local Aboriginal facilitator. The result is both a keepsake and a lesson in stewardship: guests leave with an object and insight into how artists translate place-based knowledge into compact symbols. Practical details are family-first. There’s no artistic experience required, and the format suits very young children through adults. Sessions are ideal as a morning activity before exploring Bendigo’s galleries and parks. The central address on Hargreaves Street makes it easy to combine the workshop with a self-guided walk past nearby heritage façades or a coffee on the main strip. Bring comfortable clothes you don’t mind getting a little ink on, and leave space in your bag for finished pieces. Expect a relaxed pace, lots of encouragement, and chances to ask about the meanings or inspiration behind particular designs. For travelers who want cultural connection without a long hike or strict itinerary, the Malamiya Mang - Healing Country Badge Making session offers a compact, hands-on way to engage respectfully with Country, creativity, and community in the heart of Bendigo. Booking is generally straightforward—small-group sessions run frequently during school holidays and weekends, and walk-ins are sometimes accommodated depending on availability. The workshop provides glue, badges, pins, and colouring materials; participants can also bring found natural objects from nearby parks to inspire patterns. It is an ideal short activity for multi-generational groups and makes a memorable souvenir that tells a small story about Country and creativity while supporting local Indigenous-led programming in central Bendigo.