Elizabeth Hayden is a Balladong Wilman Noongar woman and an Elder who has been involved in the welfare of her people for many years as a State Advisory and a representative for Deaths in Custody and Police Aboriginal Relations. Elizabeth has worked in advocating for Aboriginal mental health for more than 25 years. She is an advocate for the promotion and use of the Noongar language.

In conversation with Zohar Spatz, June Moorhouse, Joshua ‘Flewnt’ Eggington and Natalie Scholtz. Moderated by Shenali Perera.

The Revive: National Cultural Policy sets a bold vision for the trajectory of the arts in contemporary Australia. This panel conversation brings together experienced Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) artists, producers and industry leaders to explore the place of CACD within the Revive Cultural Policy. Where is CACD work currently located within the arts, and how is it evolving as a practice? Hear from artists and producers working in contexts ranging from the WA youth justice system to intergenerational and intercultural collaborations.

Place Names Melville art piece, Kulungarkaartup Kulungar Kuditj created by Vickie Zani, Narelle Ogilvie and Sharon Calgaret

Visions from Jack Collard, Danielle Antaki, Jamie McGleave and Neda Loh, accompanied by Pavan Kumar Hari and moderated by Wendy Martin.

How can Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) transform the future? Where could our collective creativity lead us, and how will the arts respond to the greatest challenges and opportunities of our times? A panel of innovative CACD leaders will share their visions for how community arts can impact the future on a local, national and global level.

Image credit // Now Sounds artwork // Rubeun Yorkshire

Interconnection is a collaborative project between the City of Swan and DADAA that is designed to get people talking about lived experiences of disability and/or mental illness, and about identity and the factors that have shaped it.

The project had two main phases. The first phase was collecting narratives; the storytelling aspect of this project focused on offering the public a chance to record their stories. The second phase invited artists to interpret these stories in an original artwork, which was then animated with the audio recordings for the audience to experience by using augmented reality software called Eyejack.

Lisa Holt hosted these interviews and chatted with residents from the City of Swan to source the stories, while Dennis recorded the conversations to provide context for the artworks.

Animalium was an exhibition held at Midland Junction Arts Centre earlier this year. Exploring the relationships, stories, and understanding of animals through the lived experience of disability and/or mental illness, Animalium featured a number of AR artworks by various DADAA artists. These artworks included sculptural and 2D pieces, which were then animated using stop motion techniques and the AR software.Under the mentorship of Neil Elliott and Dennis Collins, six artists in residence worked for 10 weeks, creating interactive artworks to showcase in DADAA’s annual exhibition.

Presenters Lisa Holt and Dennis Collins will discuss their experience working together and exploring different storytelling mediums and how this has impacted and elevated their professional practice, and inspired outcomes.

Enter the colourful, playful world of Yamatji artist Mandy White in this clay based workshop. Create your very own bush creature using found objects and Mandy's eclectic collection of bright, shiny and colourful decorative items.

Participants are invited to be part of an individual and collective creating session, engaging in a process of inter-subjective art making which draws from each person’s connection to home. Together Elham, Rebecca and each participant will share stories connected to artefacts, memories and moments, allowing these to manifest into a creative expression or artwork. Collectively, we will create a living map from these pieces and offerings, forming a poetic digital and audio collage made up of vision and sound. This workshop aims to hold space for emotional responses to themes such as familial history, place and identity.

Please bring a small object that connects to your sense of home. Alternatively the artists will have a range of objects available for you to choose from.

M/others Who Make invites you to tear up the binary language and outdated types that have long been used to tell stories of m/otherhoods and caregiving. Through collage making and conversation we will piece together new images and narratives, paying homage to authentic histories while creating contemporary iterations of M/other and Care. Our M/othermorphosis workshop is a space for everyone, m/others and others, to contemplate care and creativity as a symbiotic process of becoming and being. Workshop facilitation by Michelle Hall from M/others Who Make Boorloo in collaboration with Femmage artist Rachel Riggs of Yardworks.

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The ‘Patient Poet’ workshop will reclaim the disembodied clinical language of the medical report and transform its mysterious jargon into poetry. We’ll define the word, explore its origins, deconstruct and humanise it to create a poem from personal memory or imagination. You are welcome to bring in a medical report you would like transformed.

Join acclaimed textile artist Sharyn Egan as she leads you through the hands-on and meditative experience of weaving and learning about Noongar culture, while creating your own animal totem through natural grasses and colourful textiles.

"I see the value in the workshops being therapeutic in nature. I hear lots of yarning and laughter from the women and their children during the workshops. There is a strong feeling of personal accomplishment, a sense of belonging and a better understanding of one’s own community." - Sharyn Egan

You're invited to create unique and artistic hand-drawn designs on paper, which will then be carefully painted onto fabric. This creative process draws inspiration from your personal cultural heritage and background, or any place that makes you feel a strong sense of connection and belonging. Annick and her mother will share their diverse cultural experiences, fostering meaningful connections through open conversations while working on textile art. This workshop aims to nurture emotional well-being and a sense of inclusivity, welcoming everyone to join and participate.

Artist - Umoja - Textile Connections

Annick Akanni (she/her) is a textile designer and educator with over a decade in design and five years in art education. Her passion lies in the intersection of textile art and education, blending diverse cultural influences into deliberate, mindful design practices. Annick creates inclusive spaces for multi-generational communities, encouraging imaginative art therapy through textiles and sensory play. Her approach respects individual identities, fostering growth, creative freedom and well-being.

Panelist - Arts into the Future

Danielle has over 30 years experience in theatre, community cultural development and education. Currently CEO of Community Arts Network, she was recently the Arts and Education Manager for the Constable Care Foundation, spearheading the development of its award winning youth engagement programs. She was the artistic director and CEO of Powerhouse Youth Theatre, developing original, ground-breaking work with Western Sydney young people.

Presenter - Interconnection and Animalium - Augmented Reality

Dennis Collins is a sound designer with an arts and design background. He is professionally skilled in Cubase and Abelton Live, audio engineering, audio recording, sound design and music composition. Currently employed at DADAA, Dennis is a support worker, arts worker and mentor for artists with a lived experience of disability. He has also managed programs to help improve artists’ relationship with technology within their art practice.

Artist - Mapping The Collective

Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson (she/her) is an award-winning Iranian-Australian researcher, director and video artist. Her work centres itself within communal and collaborative social practice. Her research navigates inherited stories and post-memory felt by displaced communities through the poetics of the moving image. She invites viewers to become the 'witness' rather than the 'passive bystander', facilitating critical discussion surrounding empathy, custodianship, compassion and social change.

Read the interview with Elham

Panelist - Arts into the Future

Jack Collard is a Nyoongar man with cultural and ancestral ties spanning Whadjuk to Ballardong boodjar. Jack is executive director for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander International Engagement Organisation. He is the program coordinator for the Natural Resource Management pathways program which Nyoongarises the curriculum and paints a picture for Nyoongar kids in the Wheatbelt where they see themselves as the Moondang Kaaradjiny (The Carers of Everything) again.

Panelist - Changing The Trajectory

With a background in theatre and community cultural development, James Boyd has worked in the arts in the UK and Australia for over 30 years. Since 2008 he has worked for the Commonwealth Government across the arts and cultural sector, philanthropy and business, to encourage greater sustainability through innovative cross-sector engagement, strategic partnerships, sponsorship and philanthropy. In July 2023, he was appointed State Manager WA, Development & Partnerships, Creative Australia.

Panelist - Changing The Trajectory

Noongar and Wongi man, activist and hip-hop artist Josh “Flewnt” Eggington empowers and educates Indigenous youth and the wider Australian community on culture and truth-telling through hip-hop music. Flewnt comes from a politically strong family who fought for Aboriginal rights. This legacy has influenced Flewnt's identity and the inspiration for his song Kya Kyana, which won the 2018 WA NAIDOC Music Awards for Best Song and Best Hip-Hop Song.

Performers - Sundowner event

Seven strings, two voices and drums: Josh and Mariah push the capacity of two musicians by drawing on their multi-tasking and instrumental talents. This Sri Lankan born brother-sister duo comprises a jazz vocalist and guitarist with an eclectic repertoire that features their unique takes on everything from jazz standards to pop hits, as well as original music drawing from their Christian faith.

Panelist - Changing The Trajectory

June Moorhouse has 40+ years experience in the arts. While she has led through senior roles across all artforms, she has contributed significantly to the development of community arts and cultural development in Australia, including a working life book-ended by co-CEO roles with Community Arts Network (CAN) Victoria in 1984 and CAN in Western Australia (WA) with Monica Kane from 2016-2022. June combines semi-retirement with consultancy work and is Chair of the Chamber of Arts and Culture, WA.

Presenter - Interconnection and Animalium - Augmented Reality

Lisaba (Lisa) is Autistic, Agoraphobic and Aggravating. Her expertise is in disability, education, comedy, speculative fiction and poetry. Lisaba is in the process of publishing her books for autistic teens, choosing a sitcom producer, finishing a comedy book series, forming ‘The Diverse Comedy Project’, performing stand up and, ever planning her speculative fiction trilogy. Lisaba is devoted to diversity and disability rights.

Artist - Bush Creatures: Clay Modelling

Amanda (Mandy) White is an award-winning Aboriginal artist of Yamatji heritage living in Perth. A role model for artists with disabilities, Mandy won the 2021 Joondalup Invitational Art Prize and has won awards with As We Are and the Autism Association. Mandy’s works have been acquired by organisations such as the City of Stirling, the Art Gallery of Western Australia and the City of Belmont.

Facilitator - M/othermorphosis: Tearing Binaries

Michelle Hall is a performance maker, creative learning specialist and m/other based in Boorloo. Driven to mash art forms and unleash hidden stories, Michelle creates playful collaborations with artists, communities and audiences. Working in young people’s theatre and community arts since 2001, her training is grounded in physical and autobiographical theatre, clown, intercultural collaboration and community facilitation. Michelle is an MA Theatre candidate at Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne.

Facilitator - Bush Creatures: Clay Modelling

Panelist - Changing The Trajectory

Natalie Scholtz is a Persian South African, Australian raised visual artist, inspired by conversations around the relationship of self and society, action and response, culture, arts and change. After 15 years in arts and social engagement, Natalie works in community arts culture and development. This informs her practice and fuels conversations about her pluralistic identity, inherited culture and the experience of the in-between body in contemporary Australia.

Neda Loh is a Persian-Chinese visual artist and graphic recorder based in Broome who is currently working alongside traditional owner groups and managed organisations, to visually communicate western research efforts back to the community to ensure the appropriate return of knowledge. With a background in community development and arts education, she has a particular passion for the role of arts in communicating ideas that contribute to social cohesion.

Nimrod devotes his time to catering and mentoring through the World Music Cafe initiative, which supports refugees and international students with integrating into life in hospitality and in Australia. Through his catering he serves food inspired by the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, mothers, grandmothers, imagination and innovation, bringing home flair to home style and traditional cuisine.

Performer - Arts into the Future

Pavan Kumar Hari is a composer, performer, dancer, actor and director who creates music for theatre, film, dance and the concert hall, combining Indian classical and folk styles of dance and music with the Western arts. In 2020, Pavan won Best Composition for Arranging in the Performing Arts WA Awards for his work in Black Swan Theatre Company and Barking Gecko Theatre Company’s production of Fully Sikh.

Artist - M/othermorphosis: Tearing Binaries

Rachel Riggs is a multi-disciplinary Fremantle artist. Her work has been exhibited in the UK at TATE Liverpool and TATE Britain, London, and shown in Western Australia at Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth Festival and the State Library. Rachel designs and directs work for all ages using traditional and contemporary techniques. She devises creative projects with professionals, community groups and young people, collaborating together to visually tell stories.

Facilitator - Mapping the Collective

Rebecca Riggs-Bennett (she/they) is an Anglo-Australian artist, electronic music producer, composer, and sound designer. They work with sound as a device that transmits, transports and transforms, often through forms of live art, installation, and spoken text. Through what can be termed as interdisciplinary, socially-engaged and experiential practice, Rebecca examines systems, entangled histories, ecological networks and personhood to generate immersive and participatory possibilities.

Read the interview with Rebecca

Facilitator - Totem Weaving

Sandy is a WA-based director, theatre devisor, designer, photographer and sculptor working across performance, puppetry and multimedia. Her company Sandpiper Productions works with culturally and linguistically diverse communities and artists throughout Australia and internationally. Sandy has performed in Indonesia and Italy, and been artist-in-residence in South Africa, Zambia, South Korea, East Timor, Cocos and Christmas Islands, developing and directing performances with theatre companies and in collaboration with local communities.

Artist - Totem Weaving

Sharyn Egan is a painter, weaver and sculptor. A member of the Stolen Generation, much of her artwork is a commentary on her life as a Nyoongar woman and the associated trauma and deep sense of loss and displacement experienced by Aboriginal people. Sharyn often works with materials such as ochres, resins and grasses that connect to land. She has been awarded several prestigious public art commissions.

Facilitator - Umoja - Textile Connections

Moderator - Changing The Trajectory

Shenali Perera is an artist and creative producer working at the intersection of the arts, human rights and systems-change. As Community Development Manager at Community Arts Network (CAN), Shenali ensures CAN’s work is guided by best practice of community arts and cultural development. As a visual scribe, she has worked nationally and internationally, for organisations ranging from Western Australian government to the United Nations.

Artists - The Patient Poet

Writing and listening to poetry activates a region of the brain associated with the ability to switch perception from the self to others, increasing empathy, and strengthening the quality of communication between carer and patient. Our program utilises working poets with a background in the healthcare sector to deliver performances and workshops to staff and patients. Shey Marque, coordinator, is a former medical scientist and currently deputy chair of WA Poets Inc. Mardi May is a former nurse and the facilitator of the poetry group at the KSP Writers' Centre.

Facilitator - The Patient Poet

Moderator - Arts into the Future

Wendy Martin is an arts consultant and creative producer working across performance, dance, music and visual arts, with a focus on community engagement and social impact. Currently she is developing an Arts in Health strategy for Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney; she is creative producer of Big hARTS’s Punkaliyarra; and she is a mentor and facilitator for the 2023 Asia Connection: Producers Camp.