With the commercialism of cultural and religious traditions, it is easy to be dismissive of them. But October is the perfect month to stop and consider how lucky we are to have a melding pot of different spiritual, religious and cultural elements to enrich our perspectives of the world. Generations of migration between countries have brought traditions like the ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival we now know as Halloween, to a country that is home to a completely different Aboriginal Dreamtime culture. It is human nature, to feel strangely fascinated by the cycles of birth and mortality. Even in these vastly different cultures, the differences become subtle, if you examine them.

Tribal dance is used to help the spirit of the dead return to the Dreaming Ancestors within the Land.

The Australian Aboriginal people, like many cultures the world over, have been influenced by the cyclical nature of life and death in the natural world. They use dance, song and other ceremonial rituals to help the spirit of the dead return to the Dreaming Ancestors within the Land. They don’t speak the names of the deceased, and avoid images of them, to avoid recalling or disturbing their spirits that have returned to the Land. It is safe to say that the English account for the Dreamtime hardly captures the “sophisticated and interconnected mosaic of knowledge, beliefs and practices,”¹ as the Aboriginal people know it. Theirs is a culture of respect and deep understanding of the Land and its cycles.

When compared, the ancient Celtic people lived by a pastoral calendar and had a similar respect for seasonal cycles. The festival we have come to know as Halloween, began as their Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween) festival. It marked the end of the pastoral year, the beginning of winter – “representing both an ending and a beginning in an eternal cycle.”² The Celtic people believed that during Samhain, the ghosts of those who died in the last pastoral year were able to mingle with the living on their way to the otherworld.

“People gathered to sacrifice animals, fruits, and vegetables. They also lit bonfires in honour of the dead, to aid them on their journey, and to keep them away from the living. On that day all manner of beings were abroad: ghosts, fairies, and demons–all part of the dark and dread.”² 

Though the introduction of Christianity marked the beginning of the change to the original Samhain festival into what we know as Halloween today, there are many universal themes in common with other cultures, each providing a new perspective.

Artist Sam Randall is heavily influenced by cultural celebrations and mythology

The widely celebrated Mexican El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival, takes a more celebratory perspective on human mortality. The festival spans across Mexico and Latin America, where the lives of the deceased are celebrated with altars adorned with flowers, photos, food, skulls and people enjoy activities the dead enjoyed in life. Believing that the dead would be insulted by mourning, El Dia de los Muertos is about recognising that death is a natural part of the human experience and about remembering the contribution they gave to their community before they died.

“Death as a part of the human experience: Every living thing will eventually die. Every human being, no matter how beautiful or well-dressed, will eventually be exposed as nothing more than a skeleton and skull.”³

Combining Mexican Day of the Dead and Japanese Obon Festivals – Sam Randall

And then there is the Japanese version of the Day of the Dead; Obon. Or as it’s sometimes known, the Festival of the Lanterns. The Buddhist festival commemorates the lost ancestors with bon-odori, a traditional dance meant to welcome the spirits of the dead as they return to visit relatives. Over three days, and usually in the seventh lunar month, people honour the dead by visiting their graves and making food offerings at house altars and temples. Then at the closing of the festival, toro nagashi (floating lanterns) are sent down rivers towards the ocean and bonfires are built around the cities, to guide the spirits back to the otherworld.

“Even though such dark imagery is associated with its name and meaning, the Obon festival is actually a fun tradition celebrated with large gatherings, family reunions, and bright lanterns.”⁴

Although the nuances in these cultural traditions present different belief that you might not ascribe to, they offer us different perspectives of our mortality, as well as our approaches to how we enjoy our lives, and grieve or even teach us how to remember, how to celebrate the loved ones we have lost already.

1. Culture and Religion – AboriginalArt.com
2. The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows – Library of Congress
3. El Dia de los Muertos – National Geographic
4. What is the Obon Festival and What Does it Celebrate? – World Religion News

Ali x.

Logan’s multicultural narrative is one of misunderstanding and prejudice, leading to an underlying culture of fear and fragmentation. But the expressive, social and participatory nature of arts culture means that it is one of the most effective tools in challenging these fears and examining our behaviours and values. By exploring different perspectives, the arts have the capacity to generate understanding and empathy, an important first step toward creating a community where each of us feels connected and valued.

In our discussions on community last month we found the benefits of art practices are multi-layered. As outsiders, the greater community benefits, gaining insight and perspective of the artist’s own values in addition to those of the culture. The artist also finds value in creating and sharing a part of themselves and their background. As such, cultural art becomes a fundamental part of the narrative of understanding local diversity because it is inclusive by definition.

For locals like Lakshmi Giddaluru, aka Laxmi, turning to art and attending art classes in Brisbane gave her a sense of authenticity and connectivity. She came to Australia as a mechanical engineer from Nellore, a city in the South Indian State of Andhra Predesh to live with her husband and decided to pursue her art. Essentially it became a tool for looking within and connecting with her community.

“I always believed that doing something you love will give you the utmost satisfaction as a person than trying or pretending to be someone you are not.”

 

Buddha – Laxmi G

Laxmi says her inspiration comes from within, but says she uses external elements such as nature to express herself and she is also influenced by her diversified culture and traditional upbringing.

Life in your hands – Laxmi G

“Life in your hands – I am of the opinion that, one shapes their own future and life based on the kind of things they do. If your mind is blank or negative, your doings won’t reflect anything. On the other hand, if your mind is creative, your doings are more colourful and pleasing to the world. I see the world in a colourful way with different emotions and that is what I felt when painting this one.” Laxmi.

 

She calls India “the land of festivals” and it is easy to see how her vibrant and colourful paintings are influenced by her culture. In particular she mentioned Holi, a festival of colours, love and mirth, Diwali, a festival of lights as well as the deity festivals, Durga Puja and the Ganesh Puja, all of which embody the celebration of good over evil, love, mirth and joyousness through colours and light, feasts, plays and decorations. She has also recreated works from artists such as Leonid Afremov, whose paintings are known for their distinct painting style, their colours and emotional impact.

Amsterdam recreation painting inspired by artist Leonid Afremov

The concept of abstract art also appeals to Laxmi. She says by definition abstract art challenges the viewer to see an idea without “having physical or concrete existence…each individual can have their own opinion. If the audience can get the pulse of the artist I think, such abstract can gel.”

Abstract Bamboos – Laxmi G

Waiting – Laxmi G

Traditional Indian Women during the 1800 – Recreation of an Indian artist’s paintings during the 1800s. His name is “Raja Ravi Varma”. He was the one that actually put faces for different gods in an art/painting medium. Until then it was only sculptures and idols in temples. He revolutionised art in India during that time. I wanted to do something different to one of his art works and hence selected this work and did a mural painting. I like to experiment and stand out and hence this experiment. I hold this close to my heart as this one of my first major experiments when I was still in India. Laxmi.

Laxmi wants to expand her practice and collaborate and exhibit more of her work. She runs art classes for children and is experienced with Henna body art decoration. If you would like to get in touch please see the links below.

Facebook/MyArtHut
TouchTalent.com/artist/Lakshmi-Giddaluru
Instagram.com/MyArtHut

Papua New Guinean people make up a small part of our dynamic community and these colourful images of PNG culture by artist Nerius Toule, highlight the extreme differences in societies that we are used to. But they also serve another purpose, to raise awareness of different cultures that are dying out in their countries.
Though Nerius was fortunate enough to get an education in PNG, he struggled and repeated his grades many times during his school years. When he finally graduated, his parents expected him to go to teachers or nursing college but Nerius always dreamed of being an artist, and in particular he wanted to study graphic design.

His works now use colour, texture and repetition to share the varied facets of PNG tribal and traditional culture. Nerius does his viewers a service by supplying background information about each piece, which for his audience across the world brings important context, filling in the stories behind the work to give them more meaning.

Malagan Mask – Nerius Toule

“Malagan Mask (alt spelling Malangan or Malanggan). Malagan ceremonies are larger, intricate traditional cultural events that take place in parts of New Ireland Province of PNG. The word Malagan refers to wood carvings for ceremonies and to an entire system of traditional culture. The ceremonies are large, irregular and complex events, taking several days and requiring months or years of preparation. It is always held in the name(s) of people who have recently deceased, it is not just a mortuary rite. Many other activities such as announcements, repayment of debts, recognition of obligations and resolution of disputes are customary among other things. Malagan carvings, are wooden carvings which are created for use in the Malagan ceremonies. Traditionally burnt or placed in a cave to rot, in modern times are retained as the carving tradition is only known to a few. Malagan culture is the general term for traditional culture in the area where Malagan ceremonies take place, covering much of Northern Ireland Province, although many other ceremonies and traditional practices take place in this large and complex cultural system.”

Baining Mask – Nerius Toule

“Baining Firedance of Rabaul, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. The Baining Masks are made from bush material, bamboos and reads for framework, bark, cloth, tree sap and berries for dyes, vines for lashing, bird feathers and leaves for decoration. They are laboriously made and used just once for the firedance ceremony before being thrown away or destroyed. The origin of these firedance ceremonies was to celebrate the birth of new children, the commencement of harvests and also a way of remembering the dead. The Baining firedance is also a rite of passage for initiating young men into adulthood. The fire dance is a men-only event and traditionally the Baining women and children neither partake nor watch.”

Duk-duk Tubuan Masks – Nerius Toule

“Duk-Duk is a secret society, part of the traditional culture of the Tolai people of Rabaul area of New Britain, the largest island in the Bismark Archipelago of PNG, in the South Pacific. It represents a form of law and order through its presiding spirits. In the ritual dances, members of the society invoke the male spirit Duk-Duk and the female spirit Tubuan depending on the mask the dancer wears. The dancers are always male and women and children are forbidden to look upon these figures. The society was closed to outsiders upon pain of death and Duk-Duk only appeared with the full moon. Dancers wearing the Tubuan masks were regarded as divine beings whose judgement could not be questioned. The societies practise has been dying out since around the start of the 20th century and the Duk-Duk dancers are now featured as tourist attractions.”

Nerius’s digital paintings offer a unique way of sharing the indigenous tribal culture of his homeland. And his modern spin is effective. The images, often layered and repeated, with overlaid digital effects and vibrant colours, make the graphics pop and give them a fantastical element. His work is abundant and so is the information about each picture – an important part of sharing indigenous cultures.

If you’d like more information about Nerius and his work please contact him on the links below.

Facebook.com/NeriusTouleDigitalArt

Instagram.com/NeriusToule

Pinterest.com/NeriusToule

Ali x

The method of story-telling as a means of sharing knowledge is common across many indigenous races all over the world. These stories take many different shapes. The knowledge might passed down orally in different languages, via totems, kinship ties, dance, songs, ceremonies, rituals and symbolic art. In each culture the roles of men, women and children in immediate and extended family groups have different responsibilities, not just in maintaining a functioning societal group, but also in story-telling.

And in Australia, with just roughly 3% of the population today being Aboriginal, it is easy to see how their culture has become so misunderstood and marginalised in our modern society.

As a 30 something white female, I confess I grew up mostly unenthusiastic about our Indigenous culture. The school curriculum taught us narratives of a heroic Captain Cook who sailed to Botany Bay and “discovered” our land girt by sea. It did not elaborate on the violence and the misunderstandings on both sides of the Aboriginal and the white Colonials that caused too many deaths in the fight for land ownership. We were taught very basic Aboriginal stories, and like a society who is happy to accept animals as commodities without regard for their intense suffering, the violence and loss the Aboriginal people suffered was not given much weight. It was whitewashed. The depth of this suffering was not acknowledged by parts of our government until the end of the century. Their displacement and loss of land, their fight for their loved ones and their culture did not become apparent to me until I was much older.

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history is a narrative about a misunderstanding, as is our history with many cultures. It is not a surprise then, that the Logan area, known for its diversity, has been as misunderstood and marginalised also.

There are many reasons why Logan has continued to harbour a bad reputation over the years. In the late 60s and 70s, Queensland Housing Commission acquired large amounts of land in Kingston and Woodridge to build public housing, leading to a low socio-economic demographic in these areas and those around them. This reduced cost of living has attracted a population of refugees and then in recent years, racial tensions have had a hand in bringing in negative media attention.

When we interviewed people at the last Eats and Beats at the Kingston Butter Factory (listen to it on the podcast), one resident who had moved here from Mt Druitt said, “Not coming from here I got pretty jack of people saying  “oh Logan, Logan, this that and the other,”… People being denigrated by that, and in that way by the media and by the people, it creates a culture.”

After the racial tensions erupted in Logan, Mabel Park State High School Principal Mike O’Connor said “I think the community is a strong one and I don’t think the message is being shared as much as it should be.” Likewise motivational speaker Stephen Dale said, “If you are told those negative things enough, you will start to believe them.”¹⁰ However, the success of the Gotta Love Logan movement shows the strength our community embodies.

Whether Logan’s history with misunderstanding is linked to our diversity or not, we have a unique opportunity here to eradicate the preconceptions and re-educate people about diversity through a celebration of local arts and culture. Music is a great example of this – it’s a universal language and is an important part of different cultures as is spoken word. We have a responsibility to teach the next generation that the narrative between white, indigenous and multi-cultural Australia has not come to an end, there is so much more to celebrate.

If you participate in any cultural activities or art practises, we want to hear about it! Please share in the comments below, you never know – you might point someone looking in the right direction.

Ali x

Resources:

1. http://www.logan.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/7323/richinhistory-aboriginalculture.pdf
2. http://www.logan.qld.gov.au/about-logan/history/a-brief-history-of-logan
3. http://www.gbkgraphics.com/history/ab.htm
4. http://missionaries.griffith.edu.au/resource/frontier-relations-logan-district
5. http://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2016/02/01/we-shouldnt-pretend-brisbanes-racist-history-didnt-happen-says-qld-indigenous
6. http://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/the-logan-project/article/2016/01/22/logans-indigenous-history-language-almost-lost-and-story-survival
7. http://missionaries.griffith.edu.au/resource/frontier-relations-logan-district
8. http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-indigenous-cultural-heritage
9. http://www.atsis.uq.edu.au/ajie/docs/20012922229.pdf
10. http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/logan-reputation-undeserved-summit-told/story-e6frfku9-1226578758240

By drawing from his own family heritage and childhood experiences, Melbourne based writer and artist, Shaun Tan explores fundamental feelings of isolation and displacement in a “New Country” through his poignant illustrated novel, The Arrival.

The narrative begins in a universally familiar space; the family home, and follows the journey one man takes to find opportunity in an unknown land. The illustrations are emotionally charged, intimate, familiar and frightening but also open to interpretation.

He uses snap shots of the mundane and of emotional moments and fantastical scenes, juxtaposing the familiar against the unknown to show how alien and confusing things can be in a foreign setting.

Simple things can feel alien in a strange place, even the food we eat.

“Cultural difference is fun and interesting for its own sake, but it also can tell us a lot about ourselves as human beings. That is, looking at so many different ways of thinking and living inevitably provokes a question of intersection. Among these variations, what do we all have in common?”

With The Arrival in mind, it is not that difficult to imagine that there might be some who suffer from feelings of isolation and displacement in our own diverse community. He does a good job at pointing out that sometimes it is the little differences that make the biggest impact.

In our country, the word community used to be synonymous with religious institutions because the majority of locals attended a local church regularly together. Today however, while our community becomes more secular, the role of church as a unifying factor is less prevalent than it has been in recent years. And with over 200 ethnicities, that have different cultural and religious backgrounds, how do we become inclusive?

Shaun points us in the right direction. We become inclusive by being respectful of our differences, by showing compassion and working together to learn more about each other.

“If the play between art and life has taught me anything, it’s that there is not really any such thing as ‘normal’. The ordinary, the everyday, quotidian, usual, banal, familiar, commonplace, straightforward and average – all these things are a kind of illusion, one especially suffered by adults who are too adept at categorizing experience, or those unfortunate souls obsessed with monoculturalism, and doomed to suffer all manner of debilitating prejudice.” http://www.shauntan.net/Essays/IBBY_keynote_shaun_tan_2012.pdf

As Tan points out, it is through the strangeness of his ‘New Country’ that we find some sort of clarity. We are better able to articulate and to understand those around us.

“I quickly realised that instead of focusing on things that made sense… the best thing to do is simply focus on strangeness, dislocation and complexity. In other words, trying to make a world as befuddling as our own would be to any new immigrant, to just imagine what that is like. And above all else, to never actually explain anything. Bewilderment is not a bad thing: it can often bring out the best in us. It galvanizes our natural human ability to draw sense from a puzzle, to use our imagination, rather than lean upon received knowledge or wisdom get us through… Surrealism has often felt very useful to me for this reason. If handled carefully it can get closer to reality rather than further away, more or less by ‘waking us up’ from the complacency of ordinary recognition. We begin to appreciate ordinary reality as not so ordinary.”

In the name of community, we encourage you to seek out more about Shaun and you can find a list of his books and current works in the links below:

Shaun Tan’s Books

Shaun Tan’s Paintings

Shaun’s Blog

Links to Shaun’s essays

Ali. x

It’s here! It really is!

Welcome to Episode 1 of our monthly podcast. This episode we discuss what community is, what makes a good community, how we all fall into that as individuals and you’ll hear from some locals about how they feel about art and culture in their community.

We begin by looking at our needs as individuals using Maslow’s extended Hierarchy of Needs (see the diagram below) to give us a grounding for what community should offer to you. Listen out for some information about the artists we have already had on the blog, and remember to visit our Featured Artists page to get more information about them.

Next month we will be focusing on diversity in our area and you’ll hear and see some work from artists who represent some of the different cultures in and around Logan.

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Thanks for having a listen and please, please do jump on and say hi and give us your feedback – tell us what we could be doing better, what we’ve gotten wrong and what you’d like to see more of. We appreciate every word.

We will get better over time but thank you again for listening!

Oh and don’t forget to share!

An intrinsic value of art culture is that it exposes us to a perspective outside our own. An important tool when increasingly we see people fall into the fissures in the landscape of our society, despite the prevalence of our online community. In theory our community should feel closer than ever, but we all know someone who has felt misunderstood, marginalised or disconnected. The online persona we present is a facade of a happier self, a more social and empathetic self. A two dimensional self that is easy to hide behind.

This extrospective way of being teaches us to seek happiness in an unhealthy, superficial way with the world outside ourselves. Instead we should embrace who we are and seek to share it in a genuine way. We should re-examine our views and connections with the world, in relation to how other people do and not just by pursuing constant positive reassurance from outside sources. Art and culture facilitates this process, but it also does much more.

This ability to inspire understanding and cohesiveness comes from the creator’s ability to explore what is coming from within. Something that can take great bravery.

“You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of mind next to honour.” Aristotle.

It takes a great many years, a lot of patience and courage before someone might be confident enough to put themselves out there. As a writer, I know this too well. But one thing that has become obvious to us is the unity the creative community already has. Their web is multi-faceted and ever reaching, and each person that makes up a strand of the web knows that to hold the entire thing together, they must reach out and support each other. “That’s what the art community is all about,” said Tammy Quire of Tammy’s Art Studio when I thanked her for her support.

It is people like Tammy who see the benefits that art culture has in the community, as do those involved in programs such as Art from the Margins and Melbourne’s Arts Project Australia. At the Creating Wellness Forum last year, Tony Anderton remarked that in the 8 years that Art from the Margins had been running, he’s seen disadvantaged and socially isolated people flourish, but that the benefits didn’t stop there. It went beyond the individual and was felt by the greater community. Sim Luttin, General Manager and curator for Arts Project Australia spoke about their Social Impact Evaluation Study they did  “to provide a richer narrative of the broader social value of Arts Project.” They found that although artists are the primary beneficiaries of the program, the artist’s families, carers, staff and volunteers also benefited by helping to facilitate the happiness and sense of worth in these people lives. It is clear to us that providing utilitarian communities like this, teach people who reach out that they matter. Each individual is valued, encouraged and supported and this in turn enables them to value themselves outside the community.

And we know community is best received in 3D. In other words, it is best received in person and not solely via an online platform. Therefore the irony of beginning this journey online is not lost on us. This is why we want to continue to grow from here. At Fringe we believe that in order to bridge the divides of diversity and understanding, the conversation needs to be broader and more inclusive in our area so we invite you to become part of this community – not just part of it, OWN IT!

Every month we’ll be featuring artists, announcing local exhibitions and events, speaking with writers and featuring books. And the aim? To keep that conversation going, to open our minds to others’ way of thinking and to enjoy ourselves while we do it.

So welcome! Let’s have a coffee, chat on the podcast, splash around some paint, listen to some tunes and hang out some time soon.

Ali & Grant

.x

I’m an optimist. I have every reason to be. I’ve had an extremely fortunate upbringing. My parents are no longer together, but we certainly didn’t go without love. We were unaffected by conflict or poverty, I grew up without fear of being stolen and took every opportunity to explore the world around us. Life was good.

Life is still good. Be it for better or worse, we now live in a world where we are always intimately connected with each other and that information can either empower us or break us down. I believe in the former.

If I look around me today, I see many people who have been as lucky as I have. They’ve not experienced conflict or poverty and don’t know what it is to really struggle. It is easy to take this good fortune for granted. It is easy to forget the struggles that others around us might have faced. We have been lucky in this country.

The lucky Australian’s who grew up in the late 70’s, 80’s or 90’s are unaccustomed to having to fight for anything. We have been exposed to the struggles of the stolen generation, the Cold War, even the War on Terror after 911, but unless your circumstances were extremely unfortunate, much of the impact of those events was absorbed by our parents, our grandparents or our politicians.

Over my thirty-something years in this area, the community in which I live has become vastly more diverse and Logan is now home to 217 different ethnicities. That diversity has crept up on me. These are people who may have come from places where there is conflict, who might have seen their family struggle and so came to the lucky country to live. Our exceeding fortune has meant that we don’t know how to connect with them. Our fortune has bred apathy.

What is the opposite of apathy? Enthusiasm.

With the rise of social media however, I believe we can overpower this apathy. It is clear, even as the crisis in Syria and countries like it become clearer, despite our government’s out of sight, out of mind policy making, or perhaps because of it, more and more people are becoming inspired to seek change. They just don’t know how to do it.

As I sat in the theatre in the Melbourne Writer’s Festival this last August, listening to Ben Eltham and Andie Fox talk about feminist economics and the social and economic cost of valuing productivity (as raised in Dennis Glover’s book), I saw everyone nodding in agreement. Australia is heading in the wrong direction. But it became painfully clear how lucky we have all been when someone raised their hand and asked: “What can I do to inspire the change we want to see?”

There is a lot you can do.

The first thing you can do is care. Sounds easy? The chances are that if you care, someone else will too. So caring inspires conversation, conversation breeds awareness, which in turn inspires enthusiasm and action. On a local level awareness and action is important and we are pretty well protected here, in our lounge rooms, behind our smart phone and computer screens.

So we should reach out. Start a dialogue with your local politicians or community care centres. Find out what you can do to help.

“We are responsible not only for what we do but also, for what we could have prevented.”  – Peter  Singer

Why stop there? If our aim is to do some good, what if we can do it both locally and globally?

The effective altruism movement, inspired by the likes of philosopher, Peter Singer and philanthropists such as Bill and Melinda Gates is growing in momentum. An idea that if we are to do the MOST good, we really ought to look into the ways in which our contribution can be the most effective.

This is the part of altruism that most of us overlook when we decide it is time to take action and give. How do we turn our enthusiasm into something that will make a difference? Effective altruism concentrates on measuring the good you can do and making the end result the main reason for doing something. It makes the motivation for altruism reason, rather than emotion and argues that putting in the effort locally can often be less measurable. Peter Singer discusses Toby Ord’s argument about getting more out of your giving:

“You may have received appeals for donations from charities in affluent countries that provide blind people with guide dogs. That sounds like a cause worthy of support – until you consider the costs and the alternatives to which you could donate. It costs about $40000 to supply one person in the US with a guide dog…but the cost of preventing someone from going blind because of trachoma, the most common cause of preventable blindness, is in the range of $20-$100. If you do the math, you will see the choice we face is to provide one person with a guide dog or prevent anywhere between four hundred and two thousand cases of blindness in developing countries.”

“Love is the only way to rescue humanity from all ills.” Leo Tolstoy

It is clear that researching the most effective way to give or take action, would have more impact than giving motivated purely from empathy. In the same way giving to help preventative medicine to deter blindness is more effective, Peter argues effective altruists should always seek to help developing countries first, rather than more affluent nations because your dollar will always go further.

Whichever way you look at it, apathy is our enemy.

We believe the arts and culture to be the best tool to engage our local community and inspire them into action. This action might take the form of community involvement, but it also might inspire someone to do more. An important question we must remember is: How do we measure how effective, how powerful it really is?

At the recent Creating Wellness forum, Tony Anderton, director of Art from the Margins highlighted, “the social benefits of community art programs go beyond the individual. The impact is not just felt by the artists themselves, but by their carers and the greater community.” This initiative encourages people from disadvantaged backgrounds, whether it be mental illness or social isolation to create art in a safe environment. The good they are doing here is tangible.

But what about the average person who is not the creator but the consumer of such art and culture? One of the main things we aim to achieve is to pry open that idea. Get the average person just a little more involved and begin to measure how much good we can do.

Being one of the lucky ones has made me realise that it is up to me to take action for those who haven’t been so lucky. If there has been an organisation that you felt has helped you or someone you know, please comment below. We’ll compare the best and try to help them any way we can. Let’s show people what living in this lucky country really means.

Ali. x

Don’t let it be said that Logan, despite its poor reputation, isn’t full of culturally vibrant and talented people. The cast of more than 700 singers, actors and musicians that took part in the Queensland Music Festival event Under This Sky, is enough to show you just how diversely talented our area is.

“The talent pool was an ocean.”  – Artist Director James Morrison

The premise behind the concert was to celebrate the different narratives of the people who live in Logan, to explore its heritage, its dynamism and cultural diversity, to share the opportunities and experiences and to celebrate its successes. It’s what we at Fringe have known all along. Logan is a diverse but talented city and by coming together as a community, we can make positive change in each other’s lives.

And that message came across loud and clear. We felt the energy as we sat on our rug before the stage, listening to the stories of the different people and the refugees who received their education, raised families and studied to become a part of our Logan community. After all Logan is home to as many as 217 ethnicities across 64 suburbs and events like this highlight that our diversity should not be a divider, it should be celebrated.

Our biggest problem is that when we walk away from an event like this and return to our everyday lives, we often forget how important it is to be inclusive, or we just don’t know how to connect. The arts are an important tool, if not the most important in bridging those boundaries because they provide a way to demonstrate different ways of living and thinking, without the conversational barriers that can sometimes occur.

Under This Sky

Under This Sky

Under This Sky

Under This Sky

 

The greatest aspect of events like Under This Sky is the opportunity it provides for our community to come together and collaborate. It gives programs like Traction that invite school aged youths to participate in workshops run by arts professionals a way to connect with other artists, all while promoting respect and acceptance in a diverse group. In combination these events and programs not only open career pathways into the arts, but they also provide a way for our youth to engage across boundaries.

“We can change the world one thought at a time, one child at a time, one family at a time, one community at a time, one city, one state and one country at a time.”     — Bryant Mcgill

Under This Sky was a success because of its message but in order for that message to resonate with the community and make a difference, it needs to keep coming. Our arts programs need to keep challenging us to celebrate our diversity and heritage and needs to be supported by ongoing efforts of inclusivity.

The supporting urban food truck and music pop up series, Eats & Beats, has the potential to be a great way to get people mingling and talking about our diversity. The international food trucks gave a great variety to most people (there were some vegan/vegetarian/gluten free options but not many) and the music was provided the right atmosphere of light hearted acoustic tunes and vocals. It would be a great way to involve the community and feature different cultural music and art every month as it already attracts a number of people.

For anyone wanting to know more about future events in Logan, arts programs and grants, opportunities or if you’d like to submit to us for discussion, please contact us on our Facebook page or via the Submit tab at the top of our site.

Ali x