NATURE THROUGH FRESH EYES

project details

Partners and Supporters: Multicultural Residents Association (MRA), Mountains Community Resource Network (MCRN), Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group and Cheryle Yin-Lo (Community Cultural Development worker, BMWHI)

Funded by: Community Cultural Development Board, Australia Council for the Arts Cultural Partnerships Program & Cultural Development Program, Blue Mountains City Council and The Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute (BMWHI)

Coordinator: Cheryle Yin-Lo

Timeframe: 2005 – 2006

Project Overview

Nature Through Fresh Eyes was a cross cultural environmental arts project initiated by the Blue Mountains Multicultural Residents Association to increase the awareness of multicultural residents and refugees of the World Heritage area and the Australian natural environment.

This exhibition of selected works brought together the visual responses and experiences of the bushwalks in the Blue Mountains – Euroka, Katoomba Falls, Narrow Neck, Lawson Empire Pass and Waterfalls at South Lawson.

The project also aimed to break the social isolation for multicultural residents from emerging and established communities, bringing together 1st and 2nd generation residents from over twenty countries as part of the Blue Mountains community.

The meeting of these cultures and of Aboriginal culture was very enriching in acknowledging the cultural diversity of the Blue Mountains.

The project ran for over 6 months and involved:

  • Bushwalks for residents and their families with Indigenous interpretive guides & arts tutors

  • Skills art workshops to record experiences and responses after the bushwalks

  • Open art workshops for participants

  • Art materials supplied with visual diaries, disposable cameras and small individual canvasses

  • Collaborative group mural

  • Mentoring