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photo: Vanessa Veacock
RMIT photography student
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Artist
Statement
My work is intrinsically related to my cultural background and
the story of my parents who migrated to Australia in the 1950s from
Calabria in the south of Italy. They were typical migrants who assimilated
well into the new country. Alongside this they were able to maintain
a strong sense of cultural identity, language and community - a
sense of who they were. And they carried their homeland in their
hearts and minds and regularly sent letters par avon.
Although
born in Australia I have always felt a profound alienation and displacement.
I am lost between my parent’s cultural certainty and the anglo-celticness
of the new. The search for identity has lead me full circle. It
is still an uncomfortable fit of Italian and Australian and I suspect
it may always be so. This uncertainty has moved me to a deep valuing
of diversity in all its manifestations, and to an exploration of
interconnectedness in my work. Directly or indirectly, I have looked
at the ways we come together to be with, speak to and hear the other.
This to me is that special place of connection and recognition.
Website
www.thesongstheysang.com
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About
RHAPSODY IN MOTION
I imagined the project weaving through the personal and the
historic, examining Federation from multiple perspectives. Intuitively
I felt it would be a collaboration between composers and sculptors.
The poetry followed quickly and it adds a deeper articulation.
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South
Melbourne Gasworks
Education Kit
The
South Melbourne Gasworks Education Kit explores the industrial
and social history of the South Melbourne Gasworks which was a gas
production plant from 1873 until it was decommissioned in 1957.
The
Kit comprises integrated units of work based on the oral histories
of workers on-site from the 1920s until its closure in 1957. The
oral histories include first hand accounts of the 1937 stay-in strike,
which was the first in Victoria, Australia. In addition to the oral
history cassette tapes, the Kit includes extensive research material
such as newspaper clippings, Gas and Fuel archival photographs and
site maps and historical documentation.
The
Kit is structured around six main lessons, which are based on the
learning outcomes from the Curriculum and Standards Framework (The
Victorian Education Department Policy). These lessons include:
1.
The Depression Years and the impact on the Gasworks
2. Work conditions
3. The history of Gas
4. Ways of life in the past
5. Stay-in strike
6. The value of work
45 other
lessons and activities are included that can be used in related subjects
based on the learning outcomes in the CSF. The Education Kit can be
used in the classroom or can be combined with a visit to the Gasworks
Arts Park. There is also a 30 minute Gasworks Audio Tape Tour
which can be listened to while wandering over the site as one relives
the day-to-day experiences of the former workers.
Inquiries
about the South Melbourne Education Kit can be made directly
to:
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artwork:
Cathy Horsley
photographer: Victoria Rowland
art direction: Anna Monea
from
the CD
Recorded Messages: Violin
Composed by Eve Duncan
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Australian
National
Academy of Music 1999
A string ensemble with Tom E Lewis on didjeridoo
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Mayor’s
Community Day 1999
Celebrating a Sense of Place
Mayor’s
Community Day was an annual community festival held at Gasworks
Art Park, Albert Park, Victoria from 1989 - 1999. Every year local
community, Gasworks artists, City of Port Phillip staff, festival
staff and volunteers would develop activities centered on a theme
to create a festival, which reflected the community’s imagination
and interest. Mayor’s Community Day was produced by the City
of Port Phillip.
In
1999 the final Mayor’s Community Day had the theme Celebrating
a Sense of Place. Composer, Eve Duncan was commissioned and
her music Remembering Mirrabooka was performed on a number
of stages simultaneously in order to create a special experience
for the festival. The following ensembles and soloists performed
Remembering Mirrabooka:
-
A string ensemble from the Australian
National Academy of Music with Tom E. Lewis on didjeridoo
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Mr Ting’s Chinese Orchestra with percussionist Keith Hunter
- The
Sadko Balalika Orchestra with Brigid Burke on clarinet
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The Port Phillip Brass Band with Peter Neville on percussion.
- The
Port Phillip Chinese Women’s Association performed a fan
dance especially to Remembering Mirrabooka.
Two performance
groups at the festival reinterpreted Remembering Mirrabooka
in their own particular styles. African musician Valanga Khoza and
Hemisphere along with classical Indian musicians Pandit Panchanan
Sardar and Dada Parananda performed beautiful renditions of the festival’s
theme music. A video and CD were produced documenting Remembering
Mirrabooka. The City of Port Phillip and Standard Roads sponsored
both the video and CD.
Remembering Mirrabooka,
composed by Eve Duncan. Performed by a string ensemble from the Australian National Academy of Music
with Tom E. Lewis on didjeridoo. The
audio of Remembering Mirrabooka is kindly reproduced for
this site with permission from Eve Duncan, Australian National Academy
of Music and the City of Port Phillip.
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Hearing
Other Voices
Education Kit
Hearing
Other Voices is an education kit produced by the Aged and Disability
Services, City of Port Phillip, which aims to dispel some of the
myths and negative stereotypes surrounding psychiatric illness.
It also presents very powerful messages about the relationship between
mental illness, the arts and cultural development.
The
Kit consists of a 26 minute documentary titled Theatre of Hope,
which follows the development of a play, Catapult, created
and performed by members of the Recreation Access Group (RAG). As
the video unfolds, we hear different perspectives on life with mental
illness from the members of RAG.
The
video is to be used in conjunction with a resource book containing
information and discussion questions about the Recreation Access
Group, the actors and issues relating to mental illness. The kit
also contains a selection of brochures and resource material about
mental illness from government departments. While much of the information
is applicable to senior school students, particularly the video,
the political aspects of mental illness, arts, disability and local
government discussed in the book are more suited to industry stakeholders,
including those working in community development, local government,
arts, mental health and disability.
Hearing
Other Voices Education Kit emphasizes the inclusion of people
with mental illness in our communities, the role of the arts and
cultural development in forging links within the community and the
role local government can play in this process.
Hearing
Other Voices Education Kit is available from:
City
of Port Phillip
Special Needs Recreation and Arts Coordinator
Private Bag 3
ST KILDA Victoria 3182 Australia
Phone: (03) 9209 6385
Email: mhapke@portphillip.vic.gov.au
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Biography
Education
Diploma of Primary Teaching, State College of Victoria at Coburg
Bachelor of Arts (Social Theory and History), University of Melbourne
Biography
| 2000-1998 |
Multicultural
Liaison Officer, City of Port Phillip |
| 1999 |
Coordinator
Hearing Other Voices Education Kit Aged and Disability
Services, City of Port Phillip |
| 1999 |
Coordinator,
‘Disability and Recreation Seminar’, YMCA |
| 1999&1998 |
Event
Coordinator, Mayor’s Community Day Festival, Gasworks
Arts Park, City of Port Phillip |
| 1998 |
Coordinator,
Neighborhood Forums, Planning Department, City of Port Phillip |
| 1998 |
Oral
history facilitator, St Peter and St Paul’s Parish Church,
South Melbourne |
| 1997 |
Oral
history facilitator, Learn for Yourself, ‘Adult Education
in the Community’, Department of Employment, Education
and Training (DEET) |
| 1997–1995 |
Program
Assistant, Gasworks Arts Park, City of Port Phillip |
| 1994 |
Researcher/Writer,
South Melbourne Gasworks Education Kit, Gasworks Arts
Park, City of Port Phillip |
She has also worked on arts festivals, such as the biannual Gasworks
Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition from 1996-2000. Anna has extensive
experience as a project coordinator, archivist, executive officer,
producer and primary teacher.
Publications/AV
material
| 1999 |
Hearing
Other Voices Education Kit Aged and Disability Services
City of Port Phillip |
| 1999 |
Mayor’s
Community Day Sense of Place Gasworks Arts Park Video
documentary & CD, City of Port Phillip |
| 1997 |
South
Melbourne Gasworks Education Kit Gasworks Arts Park City
of Port Phillip |
| 1997 |
Ice
Chests to Microwaves Learn for Yourself Oral history publication
Adult Education in the Community, (DEET). |
| 1991 |
An
Eye of TV, The ACTAC Handbook Australian Children’s
Television Action Committee (ACTAC) |
Award
Tom Hills Memorial History Prize (1998) from the Port Melbourne
Historical and Preservation Society for the South Melbourne Gasworks
Education Kit.
About
Tom Hills (1904-1995)
Tom ran away from his Sydney home at the age of thirteen and was
taken in by a Port Melbourne family. Out of work during the Depression,
he became President of the local unemployed workers’ group
and led sustenance workers in their struggle for survival and dignity
at Fishermen’s Bend. He became Vice President of the Waterside
Worker’s Federation (Melbourne) and later was President of
Melbourne’s Retired Waterside Workers until his death. Always
an active militant, he stood for many years as Communist candidate
for Port Melbourne Council. In 1984 he was honored as Port Melbourne’s
Citizen of the Year. Tom co-authored the oral history publication
Under the Hook: Melbourne Waterside Workers Remember (Lowenstein
and Hills).
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