Small actions drive big difference
Art is a form of expression, and a community art project is encouraging everyone to channel their feelings toward action.
Reclaim the Void was born from the Ngalia elders in Leonora, Western Australia, expressing their pain and grief at ‘those gaping mining holes left all over our country’. The vision is to cover a mining pit with a large-scale ‘dot’ artwork made up of thousands of handmade circular rag-rugs woven from discarded fabric by people from all over Australia.
The project has resonated with Year 9 students studying Fibre Arts at the Glen Waverley Campus. Using fabric offcuts, students have hand-woven 28 rugs which will be added to Reclaim the Void’s planned collection of 5,000 rugs. Woven by people from all walks of life and backgrounds throughout Australia. The rugs will be joined together into a giant textile artwork which shows an overall pattern that carries the story of the Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) of the country on which the pit is situated.
The weaving technique fascinated Scarlett, Year 9. ‘I was interested in learning how to weave the circles, and the technique used and surprised by how the weaving stays together.’
The IB Middle Years Program aims to develop learners who are principled, open-minded thinkers, and to challenge them to look at the world around them, so it was important that students understand the Reclaim the Void cause. Their folio work, on display beside their weavings in the Goldstraw Visual Arts Centre, considers the significance of country, sustainability and what native title is.
This project also links to MYP service-learning initiatives as well as a number of the United Nations sustainable development goals including good health and wellbeing, responsible consumption and production, sustainable communities and life on the land.
Part of Reclaim the Void’s vision for this project was to drive conversation about caring for country and its custodians, and to show that through small-scale acts we can collectively make something special. That seems to have been the case in the Year 9 Fibre Arts classroom. ‘The students have spent time trying to understand the importance of country and Aboriginal rights. For many of them, this project has given them an avenue to express their thoughts and take direct action,’ Michele Maher, Head of Visual Arts said.
‘Reclaim the Void is really a unique project, because art is not always used to fix physical problems. I was interested in the fact that someone had created an answer to a problem using art. I loved the fact that we were fixing a problem that affected the natural landscape just by weaving,’ Bailey, Year 9 said.
‘When students feel that their work is contributing towards something bigger, they really get behind it.’ Mollie Burke, MYP Service Learning Coordinator said.
The rugs have been on display in the Goldstraw Visual Arts Centre at the Glen Waverley Campus, and will be donated to Reclaim the Void.
