Art4place artists doing community art in Japan

In May a number of art4place members (Noela, Christine, Fiona and Barry) travelled to Japan as part of a Sunshine Coast-Tatebayashi Sister City art-cultural exchange.

The Sister City activities included taking part in a citizen’s festival and visiting a range of artists’ studios.

While in Japan the exchange group also carried out a day of art with Ichikai Elementary School (IES) as part of a response to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan by Sunshine Coast artists and the SCC. Ichikai was pretty badly impacted by the earthquake. Artists and the SCC had raised funds to buy art materials for some artists to replace those lost in the earthquake and tsunami. An Australian potter (Euan Craig) and his wife who lived and in Ichikai and who had lost his house, studio and kiln facilitated the arrangements with IES and the day’s activities.

The IES activity was not placemaking art but it did tell a story of Australia’s Indigenous people through the Rainbow Sepent dreaming story; and it demonstrated, in a tangible artistic way, the concern of Australian artists for people of Japan.

All 290 children in the IES participated in: listening to the reenactment of the Rainbow Serpent story; making the Rainbow Serpent’s head and body; making serpent mobiles; and making book marks of animals and birds in the story.

Telling the Rainbow Serpent story

Artwork to the body of the serpent

Making bookmarks

Making Rainbow Serpent mobiles

Putting the Rainbow Serpent head in place

Decorations on the serpent body

Decorations on the serpent body

Getting the Rainbow Serpent ready for action

Rainbow Serpent tours the assembly hall

The funds raised were presented to the IES and education department and were to be shared across three elementary schools in the Ichikai area. The children said the day brought them much hope and joy; the artists said they were humbled by the day and the joy that art can offer to a community.

art4place, Festuri and Sunshine Coast Sister Cities

art4place was invited by the Festuri multicultural festival organisers and the Sunshine Coast Sister Cities Association to provide a day of community art that had an emphasis on multiculturalism and also the relationship between the Sunshine Coast and sister cities in Japan and China.

The art event was to be carried out from 10-30am-4pm on Saturday 8 October 2011. But that plan went awry slightly when unseasonal morning thunderstorms swept from the west and drench the Sunshine Coast hinterland and Caloundra where the festival was happening. The storms and rain cleared by midday; and with the promise of a fine afternoon art4place artists set up in shade covers by 1pm and created art with children and parents until 4.30pm.

Barry Smith © art4place-SC Sister Cities art station

Children were invited to do a variety of free art inspired by Japan and China including making: Japanese inspired butterfly fans; Japanese and Chinese inspired headbands; dragon puppets; and the decoration of a large parading dragon - attaching scales and painting on and painted decorations. The dragon was created for an event earlier this year but got a real work over by children of all ages this year.

Barry Smith © Fans, puppets and headbands

Barry Smith © Some children were very precise

Barry Smith © Even the little ones got into dragon decoration

Barry Smith © More dragon decoration

Barry Smith © HMMM! Dragon scales?

Barry Smith © HMMM! More dragon scales?

Barry Smith © Exquisite dragon colour palet?

Children could also paint ceramic dragon; but given that the dragons were hand made and fired parents were asked to pay for the unpainted dragons. Almost 30 children painted the ceramic dragons in their own unique colours.

Barry Smith © Biege dragons become exquisitely coloured

Barry Smith © More coloured dragons

The large dragon was paraded through the park twice in the later part of the afternoon. We were only going to do it once but children asked could we do it again; and of course 8 more volunteers went parading, growling and undulating the dragon.

Barry Smith © Dragon carriers at the ready

And the dragon was left behind so it could be used in the Festuri parade on Sunday 9 October.

Barry Smith © Fearsome creature at sunset

Even with the reduced time available about 100 children did one or more activities. The children ranged in ages from 2-12 years of age.

Big thanks to the art4place artists: Christine, Edith-Ann, Carol, Noela,  Fiona, Jenny, Kim, Mieke and Barry for their work in preparing for and on the day. Thanks to Festuri for inviting us to share art with children. Thanks to the Sunshine Coast Sister Cities Association for sponsoring the art4place community art event to promote the knowledge of the sister city relationship with Japan and China. And thanks to Fiona for most of the photos used in this post.