This evening, in Australia, the sails of the Sydney Opera House dazzled with colorful, indigenous art for the first time, as part of a year-long art installation highlighting the country's rich indigenous cultures.

The celebratory art projection is titled “Badu Gili,” meaning “water light” in the language of the Gadigal people — the native owners of the land that the opera house now sits on. The seven-minute moving projection features five indigenous artists telling the time-honored stories of their people in a contemporary way.

This not the first time the sails of the opera house have been used as a canvas for light shows and moving projections. But now, the projections are taking on a greater social role, and highlighting a culture that has been overlooked and marginalized for centuries on the island.

Reaching 8.2 million people annually who visit the Opera House, the sails are a moving platform for both art and activism.

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Featuring both music and indigenous art, the project “creates a gateway to Australia’s First Nations history and culture,” according to Rhonda Roberts, the opera house’s head of First Nations programming.

The project’s launch coincides with other celebrations of Australian and Indigenous history.

The launch follows the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1967 referendum in which Australians overwhelmingly voted to allow the Commonwealth to officially recognize the Aboriginal people and include them in the census.

This month the Sydney Opera House also premiered Bennelong, a dance performance that celebrates the culture of indigenous dance.

Read More: Australia Just Launched Its First-Ever Animated Series About Indigenous Children

The sails lit up just before NAIDOC Week, an annual celebration of the culture and achievements of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The art show gives indigenous people a new space in a society where many natives lag behind in health, education and political representation. Australia swore in its first indigenous Minister this February and its first indigenous women to the House of Representatives in September 2016.

Many indigenous people and musicians have called on the government to change the date of Australia Day, the national holiday celebrating the arrival of the first British fleets on January 26 — but known by indigenous people as “Invasion Day.”

Despite these forward strides, a report last year revealed that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males aged 25-29 had the highest rates of suicide in the world. Indigenous Australians are also the most incarcerated people in the world with 2,346 incarcerations per 100,000 people.

Read More: This App Aims to Reduce Suicides in Young Indigenous Australians

Image: Kate Ausburn/Flickr.

Australia’s new inclusive, progressive vision will also be demonstrated in a new festival centered on progressive global politics and activism, titled “Antidote,” in September.

“Antidote” will highlight art and performances that tackle climate change, fake news, immigration and feminism, among other global themes. The festival has not yet revealed what it will feature on the white sails, but the list of performers is already stirring a buzz.

A new study concluded that the United Nations will fail to meets its goal of ending poverty and inequality by 2030 if it does not address the health, educational and economic challenges of the world’s 154 indigenous peoples.

Although the art show at the Sydney Opera House only lasts seven minutes per day, “Badu Gili” nonetheless represents a small step toward   eliminating the major gap between the indigenous people of Australia and their counterparts.

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The Sydney Opera House Just Lit Up In Celebration of Indigenous Culture

By Tess Sohngen