HOLDING SPACE: Rituals of Welcome

underrepresentedHOLDING SPACE: Rituals of Welcome is heading to the Inner West this week to celebrate the art of First Nations and Refugee communities.

HOLDING SPACE is an exciting program founded by CuriousWorks. The exhibition will focus on art created by a selection of Western Sydney artists. Each artist participated in various workshops throughout the year to encourage their artmaking. The creatives were given the theme “rituals of welcome”, inspired by the Community Refugee Welcome Centre in Lilyfield. This concept manifested in a diverse array of works, from performance art pieces to clay sculptures.

HOLDING SPACE provides a platform for artists of First Nations and Refugee communities to speak on welcome. This is an incredible opportunity to hear from under represented artists. For one First Nations artist, Aunty Jacinta Tobin, this connects with Welcome to Country. Attendees can watch her short film, which features Dharug language song and spoken word.

HOLDING SPACE: Rituals of Welcome debuted at the Sydney Opera House on the 28th of November. The show received an incredible reception. It featured a music and dance performance as well as diverse rituals.

This weekend, HOLDING SPACE: Rituals of Welcome is coming to the Community Refugee Welcome Centre in Lilyfield. On Saturday, the 6th December, the exhibition will launch with a visual arts exhibition. On Sunday, the 7th of December, there will be two workshops. The first will occur at 12:15 pm. It is hosted by Kumari Abeydeera, who will give participants a tactile clay meditation experience. At 2:15 pm, Justine Youssef shows how to distil plant essences.

Registration is free via Humanitix.

2ser’s Amy Hosking spoke with HOLDING SPACE Senior Creative Producer, Vandana Ram, about HOLDING SPACE: Rituals of Welcome.