Jessi Rebel’s journeys with art and identity have beaten similar paths — both inspired by one piece of advice from their Aunty.

When a young Rebel asked how to paint the striking Indigenous artworks Aunty Lisa created, the response was simple.

“She would be like, ‘Just start with your background, and the rest will kind of follow’, and it really did,” Rebel says, sitting on the back porch at home on Victoria’s Surf Coast, as magpie warbles pierce through the morning mist.

This weekend, the Jan Juc resident’s lifelong love of surfing and art are coming together at the Australian Indigenous Surfing Titles in Djarrak/Bells Beach and launch exhibition in nearby Torquay.

Rebel’s connection to culture and Country may never have occurred if it weren’t for Aunty Lisa’s guidance and knowledge of the family’s almost-forgotten Wiradjuri ancestry.

Rebel’s family came from the Brungle area in south-east NSW.

“There was a mission there, but as you know, colonisation happened, and so my family were taken and removed and went to live in places like Tumut [in the Snowy Mountains] and then eventually to Sydney,” Rebel says.

“That’s where the disconnect happened, that kind of forced assimilation.”

For at least a couple of generations, many in Rebel’s family moved away from identifying as Indigenous, in a bid to better survive in a country so deeply impacted by efforts to force the assimilation of its Indigenous people.

But by the time Rebel hit high school, Aunty Lisa, who had been diving into the family history, began sharing that knowledge.

Now 33, Rebel’s journey with art and identity has come a long way since taking on their Aunty’s advice and picking up a paintbrush.

“Once I sat with myself and started doing it, it just really started to flow,” they say. “It was like having this deep knowledge in me that just flowed out of me, in a really organic way.

“It was part of my journey and my connection to myself and processing my own stuff as well, like just as almost a therapeutic thing.”

A deep connection to Sea Country

Rebel’s deep connection to Country extends past the lands of Australia, but only by a hundred metres or so, into “Sea Country”.

The lifelong surfer’s bond to land, people and culture feels strongest when they’re in the water, or rather, on top of it — gliding across waves atop one of their many custom-painted longboards.

This connection has grown as Rebel’s understanding of their Wiradjuri ancestry and culture has deepened.

“I think the more I started to understand myself as a person and as someone connected to Country and connected to Sea Country, the more I understood that I have a responsibility to care for these places and to have a respectful relationship for them,” Rebel says.

“I know the ocean can just be crazy and monstrous, and I know the ocean can be really calm … so it’s like having that understanding and relationship to it in that way and means I’ve just had a deeper relationship to myself through that.”

Rebel’s love of art, surfing and culture collide this weekend, as some of Australia’s best First Nations surfers make their way to Djarrak — Bells Beach — for the Australian Indigenous Surfing Titles.

It’s fitting that Indigenous surfers from across the country are gathering at Djarrak, a traditional meeting ground for Wadawurrung people.

“One of the really beautiful things about Wadawurrung Country and Wathaurong is that it was a place where many mobs came and were just accepted and brought into the culture, and that’s been my experience down here too,” they say.

Rebel won the competition’s longboard event in 2024, but you won’t hear them bragging about it.

Instead, Rebel says the competition is more about culture and connection than winning — even if there are some seriously handy surfers paddling into the line-up.

“I don’t think anyone comes there just wanting to win,” they say. “I just want to get together with my mob and hang out and love and support each other.”

“Particularly the women’s longboard [event] … we just make sure everyone gets a wave back there. That’s our goal.

“Even if you’re sitting in the perfect spot and there’s a set coming, if your sister hasn’t got a wave, you’re like, ‘This one’s yours, sis! You gotta get it.’”

Hosted by Surfing Victoria, 2026 is the 13th year of the annual event.

Surfing Victoria CEO Adam Robertson agrees that it’s much more than a surfing competition.

“The event is a celebration of culture, community and connection through surfing, all held at one of the most iconic locations in Australian sport,” Mr Robertson says.

“To see athletes and families travelling from all corners of the country to gather at Djarrak each year is incredibly special.”

‘We’ve all got to be loud together’

The three-day competition, which runs until tomorrow, coincides with National Reconciliation Week (May 27–June 3), the theme of which is “All In” — a call for all Australians to commit to reconciliation every day.

For Jessi Rebel, it’s a theme that is particularly relevant today.

“We’ve seen in the last, I’d say, few years, this rise in people who don’t believe that mob should have a place, that are loud.

“If you’re ‘all in’, if you’re for-mob, you’re for-culture, if you want us to be thriving on our Country, you’ve got to be loud. You’ve got to be louder than the others … we’ve all got to be loud together.

“So, I just want to encourage everyone to be loud, to stand up with us and for us.”