Tools for Social Transformation: Making the personal creative and political

Research Report

Pilar Kasat’s 2014 essay tells the story behind CAN’s Narrogin Stories project, using it as an example of the power of the arts to produce social change. At the time of writing Kasat was managing director of CAN and was one of the key players in this project, which was developed in response to six Aboriginal youth suicides in the town of Narrogin, and the shock, grief and family feuds that followed. A community artist was engaged with the brief of facilitating a new narrative for the Noongar community in Narrogin.

The essay is framed by Kasat’s own history, as a political activist who arrived in Australia at the age of 21, as a political refugee from Chile. It takes the reader through the process of community consultation and creation of the work, detailing the challenges and breakthroughs encountered, and the achievements of the project in terms of healing and and reconciliation. It also emphasises the limits of the project and the need for ongoing resources to address long-term social and economic disadvantage.
 

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