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Media Release - Achievements in Community Arts Celebrated - 21 September 2012
Media Release - Achievements in Community Arts Celebrated - 21 September 2012
In 2005 he revived Westside, the publication produced by BYDS, seeing its potential to make real change in the lives of young people from Southwest Sydney. Under Mohammeds guidance it was transformed into the only publishing program in Australia that exclusively recognises the works of emerging and established Western Sydney artists. Westside Publications produces ongoing literary anthologies including Westside Literary Journal and Westside Jr., as well as a number of performance events, video projects, workshops and residencies. Mohammed has produced events in the past six Sydney Writers Festivals and most recently edited the publication On Western Sydney, the second collection in a new series from Westside Publications. Mohammed recognised that the absence of voices from Western Sydney was a gap in the Australian literary landscape, says Kathy Keele. Through his publications, workshops and events he has fostered a literary culture in Western Sydney fuelled by the community itself. As a cultural leader and role model he has instigated tangible change and we can expect the legacy of his extraordinary body of community based arts practice to have an impact well into the future. As an actor, Mohammed has performed in Urban Theatre Projects' Fast Cars and Tractor Engines (2004 -2005) and Stories of Love and Hate (2008 & 2011). He also performed in the Belvoir Theatre production I'm Your Man for the 2012 Sydney Festival. Fellow Kirk Robson Award recipient is Darwin-based, Anna Weekes, whose work in community arts and cultural development has seen her working with some of the most vulnerable communities both here in Australia, and also in Vanuatu and Cambodia. In Australia, Anna has been working with Darwins homeless population through projects like Ten Swags and Arts in the Long Grass, a fortnightly event where homeless people (long grassers) gather to eat a nutritious meal, create art and reconnect with their land. An annual exhibition of all of the artists is now an iconic event on the Darwin arts calendar. Through these programs Anna works with the Aboriginal community at all levels people diagnosed with mental health conditions, alcoholic and trauma-affected people, with elderly and frail people, with children and with established and emerging artists. Matching enthusiasm with empathy, she has provided a space for healing and reconnecting. She has also worked with newly arrived refugees through projects including the My Sisters Kitchen program, an increasingly successful food, art and craft program run with women and families who have recently been offered residency in Australia. One of the powerful attributes of Annas work is its humanising quality, says Kathy. Through her collaborations, we get to see the people whom are too often overlooked or, in some cases, treated with contempt. A testament to the quality of her work is that many of her projects have continued to grow and flourish, long after she has moved on to new ones.
2012 Australia Council Community Arts and Cultural Development Awards Friday 21 September Abbotsford Convent, Abbotsford, VIC 6PM 9:30PM
Media contact Cameron Woods 02 9215 9030 | 0412 686 548 c.woods@australiacouncil.gov.au
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