Two years in the making the mentoring was a way of empowering community on a creative journey. The project was formulated to be borderless allowing each participant to take what they needed from the program. This journey did something different for each person delving in to the concept of art as therapy, team building, collaboration across language groups and a sense of identity through the strengthening of self.
The exhibition was co-opened by Max Witchen (Davenport Community Council Chair) and Sam Johnson (Mayor of Port Augusta) and hosted by Mandy Brown (Country Arts SA Aboriginal Projects Officer) with support from Marie Falcinella (Ku Arts) and Toby Chapman (ACE Open).
The entire mentoring project and exhibition celebration was supported by Olympic Dam Aboriginal Trust through BHP.
For me this journey has taught me a lot about myself and my practice. Being an internal practitioner, I rely on a finely tuned instinct and the subconscious to push through the creative challenges and technical requirements. Being amongst community and sharing this instinct allowed me to openly discover and peruse my process something that has never been allowed or attempted.
Every day I leant something new. Every day something presented itself to me. Along this journey I’ve been accompanied by highly skilled photographic mentors in various forms.
Be interesting to see where community take this journey.
