Held each year on 21 March in Australia, Harmony Day is a celebration of cultural diversity – a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home. The day coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The aim of the day is to engage people to participate in their community, respect cultural and religious diversity and foster sense of belonging for everyone. Since 1999, more than 70,000 Harmony Day events have been held in childcare centres, schools, community groups, churches, businesses and federal, state and local government agencies across Australia.
Poyo was commissioned by Canberra based design studio Papercut to illustrate a set of colouring-in sheets for the Harmony Day website, for their client the Department of Social Services (Australian Government).
The brief was to identify suitable themes for five colouring-in sheets, then research and select a range of cultural objects to illustrate for each of these. Poyo worked with Papercut and Cultural Infusion to ensure that the objects appropriately represented a diverse range of cultures. Each of the designs also includes at least one object from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islands culture. Once the illustrations were approved, the colouring-in sheets were added to the resources section of the Harmony Day website for the public to use.
