Northern Exposure
Working with the whole community
Introduction
Making baskets provides the possibility of extra income for the women
of Parnngurr ... My role is to further extend the diversity and creative
design aspects of basket-making and extend the women's knowledge of art
markets and copyright law. They are aware that the market seeks individuality,
something special and different which can be recognised as a Parnngurr
basket.
Jan Teagle Kapetas, DADAA WA arts development worker, Parnngurr, 2004
In November 2003, an exhibition of baskets, works on paper and video
productions from the Western Desert Martu* communities of Parnngurr, Punmu
and Kunawarritji was held at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art.
The exhibition also launched the Carer's Book.
The artists and contributors to the book included people with disabilities
acquired through injury, people with intellectual disabilities and mental
illness, the elderly living with health issues endemic amongst older Indigenous
people in remote areas, and carers for people with disabilities. It was
the first time many of them had made items for sale or display.
The exhibition and the book were some of the first public outcomes Northern
Exposure, DADAA WA's program with Indigenous people in the remote east
Pilbara desert region of Western Australia.
Background
The Parnngurr, Punmu and Kunawarritji communities were established in
the mid-1980s when Martu people who had been settled in Jigalong, Warralong
and other places decided to return to their traditional country. With
the passage of time the need for these communities to develop some form
of economic sustainability became increasingly pressing. The Elders who
established the communities were ageing. Healthy people in their middle
years often moved away to seek work and other ways of living. There were
no opportunities for educational development for young people beyond primary
school and little in the way of satisfying activities available. The communities
maintained a no-alcohol policy but were concerned by the growing number
of instances of petrol-sniffing.
In 2001, a team of DADAA WA arts workers and health professionals conducted
a study of health and cultural issues in the three communities for the
WA Department of Family and Community Services. They found that 'the health
services, aged care services, rehabilitation, mental health services and
disability services are very sporadic, not culturally appropriate and,
in some cases, non-existent' (David Doyle and Val Shiel, DADAA WA report,
2001, pp. 8-9). They also noted that these conditions were part of an
extremely fragile economic environment.
In response to the findings, DADAA WA proposed a program that would focus
on the arts - traditional and contemporary - as the means of increasing
the capacity of people to participate in and contribute to their communities.
Northern Exposure began in mid-2002 with the support of the Rio Tinto
WA Future Fund. The success of the initial two-year program led to its
current extension to five years.
Program and methodology
There are about 150 people who all know each other, the history of
generations, where families come from and who is related to whom and which
family members are unable to speak to each other.
DADAA WA report, describing Parnngurr, p. 3
The interweaving of individual and social health, Martu culture and contemporary
arts activity in response to community interests and concerns is central
to Northern Exposure. It requires a culturally senstive and flexible program
capable of working with the seasonal activities of Martu culture. The
program also has to take into account the issues of climate, geographical
distance, lack of basic infrastructure - including arts space - and budgetary
constraints.
Workshops in specific arts activities as well as in arts management and
promotion are provided on the basis of four- to six-week residencies.
The communities suggest the appropriate timing for these (although they
are often subject to sudden change for cultural reasons) and the art forms
that are of interest to community members.
Workshop activities - some convened in conjunction with Arts WA - include
painting, dance, music and songwriting, basketry, printmaking, textiles,
oral history and book-making, arts law and copyright, arts business, marketing
and promotion, community-based arts archiving and recordkeeping, and arts
space management training. DADAA WA provides exhibition opportunities
through its Freight Gallery in Fremantle, and assists with promotion and
marketing.
Many of the arts development workers employed by the program have multi-disciplinary
experience, with qualifications in the arts, training, anthropology, Indigenous
community development and/or occupational therapy. It is important that
they have knowledge of cultural issues, culturally sensitive learning
techniques and health and disability issues.
The program is managed by a coordinator, based at DADAA WA in Fremantle.
Ongoing consultation takes place through regular feedback visits to the
communities. The coordinator also spends extended time as an arts development
worker in each community to maintain an in-depth awareness of local issues
and concerns. In an evironment where Martu Wangka is the first language
of all the communities, consultation is facilitated by ensuring that local
translators act as interpreters at community meetings.
Outcomes and developments
Northern Exposure's work has led to the development of employment and
income-generating activities. It has also encouraged the involvement of
people with disabilities, addressed issues concerning the inclusion of
people with disabilities in community activities and through this enabled
significant developments in community wellbeing.
Mitchell, a senior man, did two paintings/drawings and it was so
good for the young people to see him in there. After he left, they went
over to his painting and were talking about it in detail.
Nalda Searles, DADAA WA arts development worker, 2002-03
The achievements of the Northern Exposure program have been economic,
health-related and community-based. These three areas are interlinked,
and developments in one area can reflect positive outcomes into the others.
Northern Exposure is an example of an integrated program that addresses
the interconnectedness of all three.
Economic viability
The tangible achievements of the Northern Exposure program during 2002-03
included a large quantity of spinifex and wool baskets; spinifex and fibre
jewellery and wearable art; a number of paintings on canvas; training
resources, including four videos with themes of petrol-sniffing and bush
tucker and the Carers' Book; musical scores and songs; and a community
music picnic. These outcomes highlighted the importance of traditional
art and enabled the development of artistic, business and life skills.
They also brought community members together, supported discussion of
health issues and increased community confidence.
Because one of the most pressing issues for the communities is economic
independence, in 2004-05 the Northern Exposure program developed arts
activities with employment and income-generating possibilities. Several
artforms have emerged as important to the three communities, including
basketry, painting and, more recently, photography. A digital photography
program in Parnngurr has yielded work which is being considered for exhibition
at the Art Gallery of Western Australia.
In 2004, five Parnngurr artists held a sell-out exhibition of their paintings
at Port Hedland. Others have won local art awards and sold paintings to
the National Gallery of Australia.
Basketry in particular has beome an important activity for many women
in the communities. They are able to sell their baskets through the Port
Hedland Courthouse Art Gallery, locally to visitors and tourists, and
occasionally at markets in Newman and Broome. Baskets have been purchased
for the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of Western Australia.
The income generated from the sale of baskets is extremely important
to the women who make them. It is also a community activity, as the artists
share their ideas and techniques.
Start off, that one ... at morning, finish ... late afternoon. Long
time. Sometimes all day. If not hunting, makim all day. Start morning.
Making, making ... Nothing to do. I make basket ... Sometimes run out
of grass. Run out of wool. Small ones. But I like to make big one. Like
to put feather, lotta colour. Make good. Big one.
Djaguru Bilabu, Parnngurr
Basket-maker
Djaguru is one of 14 women making baskets with spinifex, wools, feathers,
wildflowers and seed pods with support from Jan Teagle Kapetas in the
2005 Northern Exposure program. The role of baskets in Parnngurr economic
and social life reflects traditional Martu culture as well as the importance
of actual income. Baskets are often exchanged part-way through the making.
Ownership lies with the one who finishes the basket. Purchase price is
paid to the owner, who will then share her earnings with whoever asks
for financial help.
Community development and health
The 2002-03 program used the idea of 'buddy training' to create a disability
awareness training program based on arts and cultural activities. The
artwork generated through the program provided a strong basis for the
development of inclusive Community Development Employment Program (CDEP)
activities.
An important example of community development and health outcomes resulting
from Northern Exposure activities concerns reponses to petrol-sniffing.
The community narratives and videos have helped people see alternatives
to punitive measures. The program is now looking at projects with young
men that are underpinned by cultural practices such as corroboree and
artifact-making.
As well as changes in attitudes to petrol-sniffing, there has been a
reduction in the shame of intellectual disability and mental illness.
For one young man who experiences mental illness, Northern Exposure was
the first program he had participated in. His father, who had previously
kept him out of activities for fear of him being 'crazy in the head',
saw that art could give his son something dignified and valuable to do.
The way forward
The experience of working with traditional and contemporary arts in
the context of the Northern Exposure project has motivated the communities
to take up the idea of arts industry development. There are plans for
dedicated art spaces at Parnngurr, Punmu and Kunawarritji. Artists who
are ageing and/or have a disability are included and supported in these
new plans. At Punmu, the school will develop a program of multimedia with
DADAA WA's support. People with disabilities will also be part of this
program.
The way women in Parnngurr have taken up basket-making highlights the
incorporation of traditional lifestyle with economic enterprise. It also
demonstrates the value of having something to do that is stimulating and
engaging, and how it can improve the health and general wellbeing of communities.
Conclusion
Northern Exposure 2002-03 was developed in response to a gap in government
service delivery. The 2004-07 program continues this work in partnership
with the Rio Tinto WA Future Fund, and with the support of government
agencies.
The 'whole of community' approach is based on a view of community health
that recognises the particular relationships between health, culture,
social and economic structures and history in remote Indigenous communities.
In practice, it enables attention to specific, identified issues such
as support for carers and petrol-sniffing, as well as to community protocols
and broader community interests and directions. In a small community it
also makes practical sense to develop an inclusive program that supports
and encourages everyone.
An important part of the program is working with the way community members
understand and manage disability in their own under-resourced environment.
Northern Exposure's approach is to offer resources that are culturally
appropriate and address local community concerns.
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* Martu, and the language Martu Wangka, are collective
names for different language groups and the common language which developed
as a result of the forced resettlement of Warnman, Putijarra and Kartujarra
people.
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