Connections Raphael Thomas
Raphael Thomas, a Luritja Wambaya man, knows the weight and gift of connection across generations. His grandfather, Harold Thomas, was one of the first Aboriginal students to graduate from Art School in Adelaide — and went on to create one of Australia’s most powerful symbols: the Aboriginal flag.
My grandad was the first Indigenous person to graduate from South Australian Art School. The opportunities that were afforded to him compared to me and compared to my little brother are substantially different.
That difference speaks to both progress and possibility. Where Harold Thomas broke barriers in a time of limited opportunity, Raphael and his generation stand on the foundation his grandfather and others built. Yet Raphael does not take that lightly. He understands that his own journey is part of a continuing story — one that connects past struggles to present opportunities and future dreams.
“I hope I can inspire a lot of young Indigenous boys and girls to follow whatever dreams they have in whatever career they like,” he says. “The opportunities afforded to us now are amazing and we need to take them.”