An interesting exhibition of beautiful pieces of craft is on display at the Queen Victoria Women's Centre in Melbourne.
The exhibition, entitled "Entwine" Crafting Cultural Connections, is the result of collaboration between African refugee and migrant women and contemporary designers and artists. Through a series of four workshops, they have come together to share their ideas and culture and to create beautiful pieces of craft.
The craft objects exhibited are homeware textiles, jewellery, knitting and crochet, painting and embellishing, and a wonderful collection of photographs that mirror the complexities of the participants' personal journeys.
The creation of these objects d'art is representative of the emergence of the African ladies into a totally different life. A feeling of special energy is encapsulated in these pieces – the energy of "getting another life" after going through the ordeals of escaping death and war. It could be likened to a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis with all the wonder of a new beginning. There is a freshness and enthusiasm expressed in their work with the hope for a bright future and the overwhelming desire to fulfil themselves as human beings, to be able to create a business from their efforts and to be productive and successful members of their new society. We can but wish them every success in the realisation of their dreams.
Model Communication
The exhibition aspires to represent a great model for communication.
"It's more than having workshops; it's about building a bridge between people and communities," said Halima, one of the participants from Multicultural Support and Health Services. "And it was also a chance to make new friends and learn about cultures different from our own."
"This would be a positive way to overcome their obstacles."
Speaking at the opening was Commissioner George Lekakis, Chairperson of the Victorian Multicultural Commission.
"As a nation, we are entwined and connected through our culturally and linguistically diverse communities and subsequently through millions of individual strands leading back to lands, lives and cultures all over the world. Arrivals from the Horn of Africa are the most recent in a cycle of immigration going back more than 200 years with many undertaking extraordinary journeys and overcoming extraordinary ordeals in the hope of establishing a new life in a new land." The workshops and the exhibition were made possible with an inaugural $10,000 Women Creating Harmony Grant from the Victorian Multicultural Commission.
"The workshops are now finished as the grant has run out," said Sara Bice, the programme manager of the Queen Victoria Women's Centre (QVWC). "We are very much the facilitator; it's about helping them to find the right people, about making the connections for them."
The exhibition is on display at the Queen Victorian Women's Centre in Melbourne until September 27.
Feeds