Country Arts SA recognises that we are living and creating on First Nations Lands and we are committed to working together to honour their living cultures.
FLOW, a multicultural art and stories project will be launched as part of SALA at the McCormick Centre 6pm Tuesday 5 August, 2014, with a FREE BBQ and entertainment from 6-8pm.
Conceptualised by Riverland devotee Olivia Allen and designed by artists Kathryn Sproul and Christopher Bartlett with sound by Jason Sweeney, FLOW gathers stories from the diverse multicultural communities of the Riverland that reflect their personal, cultural and historical interaction with water.
Riverland groups and community members have been integral to this project. Since May, the Riverland Quilters Group, Riverland Textiles Group, Renmark Woodwork Group, Riverland Special School, Glossop High School ILC, Creative Careers, Tafe SA and individual community members have been attending the weaving workshops to weave the pods that will create the main sculptural installation.
The sculptural installation will be set amongst the McCormick Centre wetlands and incorporate the sounds and stories of water as told by the Riverland community. A soundtrack of interviews conducted by Olivia with community members about their connection to water will be available to download on the night of the launch.
It will be the first big sculptural work in the McCormick Centre and the first grand-scale project Country Arts SA and the McCormick Centre have done in conjunction.
Designer Kathryn Sproul said the workshops have also been a great way to start conversations within the community.
“I have loved seeing the originality and diverse designs in response to the task of weaving a pod shape,” she said. “The delight of the workshops in the Riverland has been the emergence of the conversations as we work. There is something about the magic of sitting around the table weaving.”
FLOW is produced by Country Arts SA with assistance from the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts and advisory body and through the Ministry for the Arts, Regional Arts Fund that supports sustainable cultural development in communities across regional and remote Australia.
Flow is the first project in the Country Arts SA This Is A River 2014 – 2016 program.
Download the FLOW soundtrack at www.soundcloud.com/flow-2014
FLOW
McCormick Centre, Ral Ral Ave, Renmark
August 5 – September 30, 2014
Country Arts SA recognises that we are living and creating on First Nations Lands and we are committed to working together to honour their living cultures.