Restoring Hope - Albany

Tue 11 Sep 2012 – Mon 17 Sep 2012

10:00am – 4:30pm

Museum of the Great Southern

Department for Communities has organised an art exhibition as part of Refugee Week since 2007. Theme and dates for Refugee Week in Australia are set by the Refugee Council of Australia and this year’s theme is “Restoring Hope”.

The Refugee Week project involves engaging with schools and organisations that work with students and young people from refugee backgrounds to produce different forms of art which depict their experience as refugee young people and their settlement in a new country. Students are mentored by an artist and their teachers to produce the artworks which best depict their experience under the Refugee Week theme. Through this process students often learn new skills, for some it is the first time to be involved in art to express their feelings.
The project was initially managed by Communities, however in 2011 and again this year it was outsourced to Propel Youth Arts WA.

Included in the exhibition was the Red Cross World Aware photography. World Aware is a mental health and leadership program for young people from a refugee or new migrant background. The program involved photography workshops and exploring the theme of humanity.

Students who participated were originally from:

• South Sudan
• Sudan
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Afghanistan
• Philippines
• Iran
• Burma
• Eritrea
• Thailand
• China
• Somalia
• Afghanistan
• Rwanda
• Ethiopia
• Egypt
• Burma
• Burundi
• Kenya
• Uganda

The Department for Communities would like to build on this success and showcase the 2012 exhibition in the South West and the Great Southern regions. It is now showing in Albany until the 17th of September when it will move on to Bunbury.

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