Monday 14 to Friday 18 June 2021

Hi Everyone,

The June activation of the UNSEEN project in Circular Quay went extremely well. Thank you to all the participants for making the project come alive and to all the volunteers from WEL, Blur and Soroptimist that supported this activation. Another six women came forward to share their stories of homelessness and housing insecurity through the UNSEEN Project. This brings the total number of women participating in UNSEEN Project to twenty-six. Over the next few months these women’s stories and images will be added to the UNSEEN website. Of these women, Jessikah has expressed interest in creating artworks that will be exhibited at NSW Parliament House as part of the UNSEEN Project. We are also very proud to have Fiona Wolfwerk and Alexander Moffatt working in collaboration with women from Rough Edges to produce works which will feature in the exhibition in NSW Parliament House. In addition, it has been wonderful to learn today that Jane from Immigrant Women’s Speakout is providing support for women in their network to create an installation to also appear in NSW Parliament House.

We wish to say a big thank you to Chris Knight from Soroptimist in Queensland for donating funds to support Fiona Arnold’s “Walk a mile in my shoes” art installation.  The donations we received through the WEL donation portal in May were used to support Carmen and Emily to complete their artworks which form part of the exhibition in NSW Parliament House in August. We do hope that more donations will come forward to support the artworks being created by Jai, Lani, Barb, Jessikah and Evie. Please feel free to contact me directly if you would like to provide a gift voucher from Eckerlsey Art Supplies to one of the women, or if you prefer, please let me know that you have made a specific donation for the new artists via WEL’s tax-deductible portal  https://unseen.house/donate-to-unseen/.  Feel free to send this link  https://unseen.house/donate-to-unseen/ to your contacts so that further funds can be raised to support these new artists in the project.

Marwan from Auto Skin added more chrome panels to the UNSEEN Chrome Tiny House allowing it to slowly progress, as planned, to become more UNSEEN enabling the public to engage in the topic of homelessness and social and affordable housing as the Tiny House becomes less visible. The  June activation sees the Tiny House completely chromed as part of the Walsh Bay Sculpture Walk with the support of Nigel Messenger from Art Park and Soho Gallery. Marwan kindly continues to make the Tiny House chrome in preparation for its role in VIVID at Walsh Bay.

We are still looking for volunteers to support the July activation, so please take a look at the dates in the volunteer schedule to see if you or someone you know are able to assist us https://unseen.house/support-unseen/calendar-of-events/

JUNE 2021 – Activities 

Fiona Arnold was UNSEEN’s artist in residence for June with her project ‘Walk a mile in my shoes’. Fiona invited women to bring their shoes and their stories to the UNSEEN Arts Hub and include them in her art installation. The installation Fiona creates will be displayed at Parliament House in August 2021. See below the images of this powerful installation which provided audiences the ability to quietly reflect on the diversity of women’s lived experiences.

“The shoes are a snap-shot of portraits of women’s lives and written stories. They represent different intersections of life, some confronting homelessness, abuse, addiction, mental illness, disability, poverty, sexuality, aging, racism, domestic violence, loss, unemployment and seeking asylum. The shoes represent the women in our communities who fight so hard advocating for change, human rights, and social justice. These stories are often not heard and go unseen.  The visual impact of ‘Walk a mile in my shoes’ enables the inclusion of many women’s stories to be told and collectivity seen.”  – Fiona. 

 

Additional Activities in June’s activation.

  • The UNSEEN House became a part of the Walsh Bay Art Park Sculpture Walk with the support of Nigel Messenger from Art Park and Soho Gallery. Marwan kindly continues to make the Tiny House chrome in preparation for its role in VIVID.
  • Fiona Wolfwerk and Alexander Moffatt, working in collaboration with women from Rough Edges, are continuing to create images that will feature in the exhibition in NSW Parliament House.
  • Participant in the UNSEEN project, Roshee, engaged with the public to craft messages to homeless youth on paper dolls, which will form part of the display in NSW Parliament House in August. In addition, she will now be creating a painting about her experiences of housing insecurity with the financial support of Hornsby Soroptimist.
  • Participant in the UNSEEN project, Lani, shared her experiences being of homelessness in preparation for the activation of her performance in July of the play she is writing with the assistance of Kylie and Bradley from Midnight Feast.
  • Participant in the UNSEEN project, Emily Stafford, once again invited members of the public to come and to sit with her and learn about and participate in making book art for her installation for the exhibition at NSW Parliament House in August.
  • Participant Sera began her crystal chandelier art installation for the exhibition at NSW Parliament with the financial support of Hornsby Soroptimist.

Upcoming activation 05 – 09 July 2021 Martin Place: UNSEEN Chrome Car (between Pitt and Castlereagh Streets)

The theme for July is NAIDOC WEEK: HEAL COUNTRY.

  • Nadeena Dixon, Wiradjuri ,Yuin & Gadigal (Dharug – Boorongberrigal clan) Indigenous Multidisciplinary Artist and Master Weaver is the UNSEEN Artist in residence during NAIDOC week 5-9 July 2021. Nadeena will be creating a collaborative weaving project which the public can participate in. BOOK HERE

“I am committed to assisting the development and growth of a stronger and vibrant Indigenous Arts Industry through creating sustainable partnerships that contribute to social, cultural and economic benefit for Indigenous Artists and Communities. My practice utilises my knowledge of Arts Programming, Consulting and Development/Arts and Cultural Practices/Marketing and Promotion/Indigenous Protocols and Intellectual Property Rights/Problem Shooting/Webpage and Social Media Branding/Marketing Strategies/Brokerage/Arts Consultancy/Engagement to seek new ways of utilising the convergence of emerging technologies and their applications in the creation of Indigenous programs of benefit to Indigenous Arts. I believe that hybrid and interdisciplinary Arts that engage in exploring and creating unique and dynamic new ways of expressing Australian Indigenous Arts and Culture will make a powerful contribution to the richness of the World Cultural Arts Movement.” – Nadeena Dixon

  • Lani will be sharing her story as a Stolen Generation survivor and her experiences of homelessness and housing insecurity each lunchtime. BOOK HERE.
  • Aunty Dixie Link Gordon will be supporting UNSEEN as Founder of Breaking Silent Codes
  • The month of July will also see Fiona, Sera, Roshee, Emily, Terri, Jordon and Jai, working on their artworks.

 

Thank you so much,

Belinda Mason