Gli australiani delle Prime Nazioni che hanno vissuto in prima persona l'esperienza della detenzione in Victoria espongono le loro opere in una mostra d'arte.
SCARICA la trascrizione col testo a fronte in inglese.
Italiano
"The Torch is our 15-year-old organisation that works with First People who are incarcerated all across Victoria, so we work across the 17 prisons and we support artist in prison to connect to culture. And find a new pathway beyond their prison system. We're working against the systemic oppression of incarceration and the hyper incarceration of mob in this country."
Questa è la voce di Susannah Day, amministratrice delegata di The Torch.
The Torch è un'organizzazione artistica senza scopo di lucro guidata dalle persone delle Prime Nazioni che offre sostegno artistico, culturale e nel settore delle arti ai popoli indigeni che hanno vissuto l'esperienza della detenzione in Victoria.
L'organizzazione impiega responsabili artistici indigeni per portare avanti il proprio programma statale “Indigenous Arts In Prisons and Community” (Arti indigene nelle carceri e nella comunità) rivolto a uomini e donne indigeni detenuti nelle carceri del Victoria.
Oltre a questo, sostiene i partecipanti nel loro reinserimento nella comunità.
Dal 2009, la loro principale mostra annuale presenta opere d'arte realizzate da persone indigene che hanno vissuto l'esperienza della detenzione.
Il tema di quest'anno è “Confined 17” e mette in mostra il lavoro di 424 artisti delle Prime Nazioni che contribuiscono a una collezione di quasi 500 opere d'arte in mostra nella galleria del Glen Eira City Council a Caulfield Naarm.
Le storie mettono in luce temi quali la parentela, la guarigione, le storie ancestrali e i percorsi di vita.
Susannah Day ha dichiarato che con questo si cerca di garantire a questi artisti una giusta retribuzione, poiché lottano contro l’oppressione sistemica.
Ciò permette loro di ottenere il 100% del ricavato dalla vendita delle opere, nella speranza di iniziare una nuova vita e acquisire la fiducia in loro stessi necessaria per intraprendere un nuovo percorso al di là del carcere.
"Over 50 per cent Aboriginal staff and we know what we're doing works so we know the reincarceration rates of artists connected to The Torch is about 20 per cent compared to the national average which is 55 to 65 per cent. So we know that if you actually put change in the hands of the Aboriginal people and get them to design a programme, this is the results that you get. Something that is vibrant, that unifies our community, where allies and mob come out to buy people's work, and our artists are so so proud. And they have dignity, and they are better mums and they are better dads and they are better grandparents and better kids for it and we are really really proud of what we have created."
Tegan, che appartiene al popolo Palawa, è cresciuta nella sua terra natale e si è trasferita a Naarm all'età di 13 anni.
Quando parla delle sue opere, fa riferimento alla prigione.
"My artwork I wanted to do water colour but in jail there was no watercolour. So I improvised with food dye, so it looks watercolour, but it's not. It's food dye. Cause I have done 13 months of my sentence and I was up for parole and I wanted more structure so I decided to accept drug court so instead of taking parole, I gave myself longer time and I took a drug court order, and it was about my struggle in my brain about whether I was doing the right thing, or whether I was going to fail at it and I'm currently succeeding so it's all good."
Kent Morris, uomo di etnia Barkinji ed ex amministratore delegato, è il fondatore del programma e direttore creativo di The Torch.
Lavora lì da 15 anni.
"When I started back in the day it was me going out and about. We have 27 staff now and a whole team of First People's art mentors. Many who have come through the program who are delivering that program, and I get to kind of culturally oversee and provide all my knowledge and experience, as we do. As we gain to learn all that knowledge and experience. And that knowledge was handed down to me by our elders about how to get myself right and and through my culture and what that might do."
Morris ha sottolineato l'importanza della collaborazione per realizzare il cambiamento.
"It's really critically important and it's our ten year anniversary of the Aboriginal arts policy that we change in Victoria after 40 years of advocacy of mob, and we're able to change it because of this program, but also because we're able to get bipartisan support in the parliament so we have to work together. Mob and non mob we got to do it together, not going to be able to do it separately, and we have to unite and connect each other. We've got enough of this divisiveness going on so I think everybody wants the solutions if it wants to see those gaps close particularly around incarceration."
Morris sottolinea che il governo deve fare di più.
A livello nazionale, il tasso di incarcerazione degli adulti standardizzato per età (ASAIR), calcolato ogni 100.000 abitanti adulti, per gli adulti delle Prime Nazioni nel 2022 era di circa 2.200.
Secondo l'Istituto australiano per la salute e il welfare, si tratta di un valore oltre 14 volte superiore all'ASAIR dei non indigeni, che è pari a 150.
L'obiettivo dell'Accordo Nazionale per Colmare il Divario – Close the Gap - è quello di ridurre il tasso di incarcerazione degli adulti aborigeni e delle Isole dello Stretto di Torres di almeno il 15% entro il 2031.
Tupun Wultantinyeri è un artista nato in South Australia e cresciuto nel Riverland fino all'età di 14 anni.
Tupun ha raccontato quale fosse il suo stato d'animo nel novembre dello scorso anno, quando il suo dipinto ha visto la luce.
"I was in such a slump. I wasn't painting or I wasn't travelling too well mentally. And so I did a few small ones just to get ourselves moving, and then I got - there were two or three colours throughout then I got the motivation to jump on to this, which is a monster - 118 by 200 cm. incredibly knocked over in five days which is ridiculous"
Sempre Tupun ha aggiunto che l'ispirazione è venuta dall'interno.
"Such a big canvas and I'm in a small apartment. So it was really rolling, I mean I tried to do like the old aunties will sit on the ground and paint and it lasted about 20 minutes. And then I had to set up on a table and unroll third by third. And to be honest, I got there half way through - like I've really been moving along and I got half way through and the story sort of emerged from it, which is just around longing for healing. And that's really what I was the entire process. And as you can see, you can really feel the vibrations in it and whatnot. There's a lot of movement in it, and I'd like to think that was coming from within, that's absolutely connected to it."
Inglese
"The Torch is our 15 year old organisation that works with First People who are incarcerated all across Victoria, so we work across the 17 prisons and we support artist in prison to connect to culture. And find a new pathway beyond their prison system. We're working against the systemic oppression of incarceration and the hyper incarceration of mob in this country."
That's Susannah Day, the CEO of The Torch.
The Torch is a non profit First Peoples-led arts organisation that provides art, cultural, and arts industry support to First Peoples with lived experience of incarceration in Victoria.
The organisation employs Indigenous Arts Officers to deliver their statewide Indigenous Arts In Prisons and Community program to Indigenous men and women in Victorian prisons.
They also supports participants who are transitioning back into the community.
Since 2009, their major annual exhibition has featured artworks by Indigenous people with lived experience of incarceration.
The theme this year is Confined 17, showcasing the work of 424 First Nations artists contributing a collection of close to 500 497 artworks extend throughout the Glen Eira City Council gallery in Caulfield Naarm.
The stories highlight themes of kinship, healing, ancestral stories and life journeys.
Ms Day says they try to give these artists economic justice, as they work against systemic oppression.
This allows them to get 100 per cent of their income to hopefully start a new life and gain self-confidence to take a new path beyond prison.
"Over 50 per cent Aboriginal staff and we know what we're doing works so we know the reincarceration rates of artists connected to The Torch is about 20 per cent compared to the national average which is 55 to 65 per cent. So we know that if you actually put change in the hands of the Aboriginal people and get them to design a programme, this is the results that you get. Something that is vibrant, that unifies our community, where allies and mob come out to buy people's work, and our artists are so so proud. And they have dignity, and they are better mums and they are better dads and they are better grandparents and better kids for it and we are really really proud of what we have created."
Tegan, who's a Palawa woman, grew up on country and moved to Naarm when she was 13.
She references prison while talking about her artwork.
"My artwork I wanted to do water colour but in jail there was no watercolour. So I improvised with food dye, so it looks watercolour, but it's not. It's food dye. Cause I have done 13 months of my sentence and I was up for parole and I wanted more structure so I decided to accept drug court so instead of taking parole, I gave myself longer time and I took a drug court order, and it was about my struggle in my brain about whether I was doing the right thing, or whether I was going to fail at it and I'm currently succeeding so it's all good."
Barkinji man former chief executive Kent Morris is the Program Founder and Creative Director at The Torch.
He's been there for 15 years.
"When I started back in the day it was me going out and about. We have 27 staff now and a whole team of First People's art mentors. Many who have come through the program who are delivering that program, and I get to kind of culturally oversee and provide all my knowledge and experience, as we do. As we gain to learn all that knowledge and experience. And that knowledge was handed down to me by our elders about how to get myself right and and through my culture and what that might do."
Mr Morris stresses the importance of working together to achieve change.
"It's really critically important and it's our ten year anniversary of the Aboriginal arts policy that we change in Victoria after 40 years of advocacy of mob, and we're able to change it because of this program, but also because we're able to get bipartisan support in the parliament so we have to work together. Mob and non mob we got to do it together, not going to be able to do it separately, and we have to unite and connect each other. We've got enough of this divisiveness going on so I think everybody wants the solutions if it wants to see those gaps close particularly around incarceration."
He stresses more needs to be done by the government.
Nationally, the age-standardised adult imprisonment rate ASAIR, measured as per 100,000 adult population for First Nations adults in 2022 was around 2,200.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, that's over 14 times as high as the non-Indigenous ASAIR 150.
The National Agreement to Close the Gap target is to reduce the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults held in incarceration by at least 15 per cent* by 2031.
Tupun Wultantinyeri, is an artist who was born in South Australia and raised in the Riverland till the age of 14.
He talks about where he was mentally in November last year when his painting came to fruition.
"I was in such a slump. I wasn't painting or I wasn't travelling too well mentally. And so I did a few small ones just to get ourselves moving, and then I got - there were two or three colours throughout then I got the motivation to jump on to this, which is a monster - 118 by 200 cm. incredibly knocked over in five days which is ridiculous"
He adds that it was inspired from within.
"Such a big canvas and I'm in a small apartment. So it was really rolling, I mean I tried to do like the old aunties will sit on the ground and paint and it lasted about 20 minutes. And then I had to set up on a table and unroll third by third. And to be honest, I got there half way through - like I've really been moving along and I got half way through and the story sort of emerged from it, which is just around longing for healing. And that's really what I was the entire process. And as you can see, you can really feel the vibrations in it and whatnot. There's a lot of movement in it, and I'd like to think that was coming from within, that's absolutely connected to it."
Report by SBS News
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