The Sea of Hands in your community

The Sea of Hands could visit your community to mark

• National Close the Gap Day (3rd Thursday in March)
• The Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum (27 May)
• Sorry Day (26 May)
• National Reconciliation Week (27 May-3 June)
• NAIDOC Week (starts first Sunday of July)
• Reconciliation Action Plan launch (anytime)

If you are considering one of the popular dates listed we recommend you book in advance to reserve your Hands.

Getting Started

Choose the number of hands to suit your design, needs and budget

The hands are loaned to schools, universities, community groups, organisations and businesses in boxes of 200. Mixed boxes with all colours, three colours, or single colour boxes are readily available. Hands are in the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flags. (Red, Yellow, Black, White, Blue and Green). Metal posts for planting the hands into the ground are included. For an installation to appear at its best we suggested 16-20 hands per square metre. Meaning an 800 hand installation would cover 40sq metres ie. 6.33m X 6.33m.

Think about the design you want to use and the ratio of colours

• Recreate the iconic design that toured Australian in 1998 and 1999. EASY – Make it as large as you like using mixed boxes of Hands
• The Aboriginal Flag: EASY
• The Torres Strait Islander Flag: MEDIUM, note the Dhari can be challenging to get right.
• Seek an original design from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students, their families, communities or local artist: MEDIUM to HARD. Discuss with the artist the colours and size requirements above, before they start work.

Optional extra participation in the event

We provide a template to print notes, or cards can be attached to the Hands, for participants in your installation to write their name or personal messages of support for reconciliation, rights and justice. The cards are temporarily attached and must be removed before hands are returned to ANTAR. Note labels / stickers are difficult to clean from the hands so we do not permit them. Also, please do not write directly on the hands in any permanent or non-permanent marker.

The Sea of Hands is delivered and collected

We include the freight costs in the hire fee and use reliable couriers. We allow for the hands to arrive a couple of days before the event and be collected a couple of days after. Please note that the repacking instructions need to be followed carefully prior to returning the Hands. This includes cleaning and removing hands from the posts and packing them back into boxes with correct quantities to avoid additional courier fees relating to incorrect weight. This also greatly reduces the work at our end and is much appreciated. When your hands are ready for collection, contact us and we will arrange the courier pickup at your convenience, and send you the tracking labels to attach.

Further resources and help available

We provide a ‘How-to Guide’ to help you plan and get the most out of your event, including:

• Instructions for installations such as creating the flags
• Suggested additional activities
• Tips and tricks we’ve learned from 20+ years of installations, to help yours run smoothly
• Additional resources helpful in lesson planning for schools