A WORKSHOP series is set to take place aimed at giving former residents of Ballarat Orphanage and Ballarat Children\u2019s Home a creative outlet based on their experiences.<\/p>\n
The sessions, to start next month, will be run out of Cafs\u2019 recently-established History and Memory Centre in collaboration with the organisation and Ashtree Projects who helmed the space\u2019s design.<\/p>\n
Ashtree Projects director Ember Parkin is leading the project, and said the aim is to give the past residents the space to creatively express their experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main aim is to offer residents the chance to work with artists in developing creative responses to the works related to their childhoods,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve found what can happen often when people are accessing their records, they can be incomplete or incorrect.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe creative avenue provides another way for them to articulate their experiences. The intent is to empower.\u201d<\/p>\n
The free workshop will be delivered by visual artists Kerri Wilson McConchie and Rebecca Russell, running every Saturday in October, and potentially into November, from 10am to 1pm.<\/p>\n
The participants\u2019 creative efforts are to be drawn from their personal responses from their time at the sites as well as archival material.<\/p>\n
Funded through a grant from the Australian Council of the Arts, the sessions will culminate with an exhibition at Art Space in late November, which Ms Perkin is another way of empowering participants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a way to publicly share the outcomes of what these people are working through,\u201d she said. \u201cIt provides an avenue for sharing and raising awareness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were up to 18 residential institutions in Ballarat where children were taken in so this about raising awareness on people\u2019s rights to own their own stories.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people in those institutions are the ones who need to be telling their stories. It\u2019s ultimately about celebrating these experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
To register for the workshops, visit bit.ly\/3YXEyP7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A WORKSHOP series is set to take place aimed at giving former residents of Ballarat Orphanage and Ballarat Children\u2019s Home a creative outlet based on their experiences. The sessions, to start next month, will be run out of Cafs\u2019 recently-established History and Memory Centre in collaboration with the organisation and Ashtree Projects who helmed the […]<\/p>\n