Send 150 words and an image of a place you love. Photos by Terry Melvin
By Laura Brearley
DO YOU have a special place that you love? At the ocean, by a river, in the rolling hills?
We would like you to tell us about it, in 150 words or less, and to send us an image of your special place in this region. We’d love to hear from you and invite you into the Coastal Connections project.
The community-based project weaves together creative writing, musical composition and film-making, with a focus on the natural world. It will result in an exhibition and the development of seven short films about local people and their special places. The new works will showcase our community’s creative gifts and the beauty of our local natural environment.
By Laura Brearley
DO YOU have a special place that you love? At the ocean, by a river, in the rolling hills?
We would like you to tell us about it, in 150 words or less, and to send us an image of your special place in this region. We’d love to hear from you and invite you into the Coastal Connections project.
The community-based project weaves together creative writing, musical composition and film-making, with a focus on the natural world. It will result in an exhibition and the development of seven short films about local people and their special places. The new works will showcase our community’s creative gifts and the beauty of our local natural environment.
Coastal Connections has recently been funded through Bass Coast Shire Council’s Business and Community Resilience Grants Program COVID-19. It is designed to draw on the links between community well-being, creative engagement and connection to the natural world.
In her new book, Phosphorescence, Julia Baird writes about our love of nature, saying that it is “coiled within our bones, laced in our marrow, steeped in our blood”. She explores scientific literature about the health benefits of immersing ourselves in nature. The research she describes demonstrates that “when we are exposed to sunlight, trees, water or even just a view of green leaves, we become happier, healthier and stronger”.
The Coastal Connections project is designed for COVID times, bringing people together through creative collaborations that respect social distancing requirements. Community members will have an opportunity to collaborate across different artforms and cultures.
Six pieces of writing will be selected as the subject for six three-minute films, for which original musical compositions will be commissioned. Thirty pieces of writing will be selected for inclusion in an exhibition which will be displayed across libraries in Bass Coast. A selection of contributions will also be published in the Bass Coast Post and The Waterline News. A seventh 15-minute film will be produced, also with original music, which will distil the community’s insights and incorporate and extend elements of the other six films.
A working group, drawn from a cross-section of the community, will steer the project. Members of the group will decide on a selection of pieces of creative writing for incorporation into the short films, the library exhibition and for future publication.
Working group members are:
The project is hosted by the Gippsland Singers Network and its auspicing body, Community Music Victoria (CMVic), both of which have extensive experience in facilitating broad community outreach and responding to the social distancing requirements of COVID regulations. The project is co-ordinated by Dr Laura Brearley, who has been facilitating environmental and intercultural arts projects with the Bass Coast community since 2012.
If you “hanker for the sight of green and blue”, as Julia Baird describes it, please email your writing, accompanying image and contact details to [email protected] by COB Friday August 21. Your insights will be welcomed and valued.
In her new book, Phosphorescence, Julia Baird writes about our love of nature, saying that it is “coiled within our bones, laced in our marrow, steeped in our blood”. She explores scientific literature about the health benefits of immersing ourselves in nature. The research she describes demonstrates that “when we are exposed to sunlight, trees, water or even just a view of green leaves, we become happier, healthier and stronger”.
The Coastal Connections project is designed for COVID times, bringing people together through creative collaborations that respect social distancing requirements. Community members will have an opportunity to collaborate across different artforms and cultures.
Six pieces of writing will be selected as the subject for six three-minute films, for which original musical compositions will be commissioned. Thirty pieces of writing will be selected for inclusion in an exhibition which will be displayed across libraries in Bass Coast. A selection of contributions will also be published in the Bass Coast Post and The Waterline News. A seventh 15-minute film will be produced, also with original music, which will distil the community’s insights and incorporate and extend elements of the other six films.
A working group, drawn from a cross-section of the community, will steer the project. Members of the group will decide on a selection of pieces of creative writing for incorporation into the short films, the library exhibition and for future publication.
Working group members are:
- Aunty Fay Stewart-Muir – Boon Wurrung Elder and language specialist, Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages (VACL)
- Cr Geoff Ellis – Bass Coast Shire Deputy Mayor, Councillor, Editor, The Waterline News
- Matua (Uncle) Arnold Tihema – Maori Elder, cultural advisor, singer and multi-instrumentalist
- Rev Ian Turnnidge – Minister, St John’s Uniting Church, Cowes
- Jon Dixon – Manager, Wonthaggi Branch, West Gippsland Regional Library Corporation
- Anne Davie AOM – Co-chair Bass Coast/South Gippsland Reconciliation Group, conservationist, advocate for refugees and arts
- Jan Bourne – Former coordinator, Wonthaggi Neighbourhood Centre
- Dr Oli Hinton - Coordinator, Community Music Victoria
- John Howard –Secretary, Community Music Victoria
- Terry Melvin – Film-maker, photographer, former psychologist
- Dr Laura Brearley – Project coordinator, creative researcher, singing leader, Gippsland Singers Network
The project is hosted by the Gippsland Singers Network and its auspicing body, Community Music Victoria (CMVic), both of which have extensive experience in facilitating broad community outreach and responding to the social distancing requirements of COVID regulations. The project is co-ordinated by Dr Laura Brearley, who has been facilitating environmental and intercultural arts projects with the Bass Coast community since 2012.
If you “hanker for the sight of green and blue”, as Julia Baird describes it, please email your writing, accompanying image and contact details to [email protected] by COB Friday August 21. Your insights will be welcomed and valued.