People's Library 2020: Voices of the Community
Voice Within has just won their second grant this year. Alongside the wonderful support of the Bellingen Neighbourhood Centre and Bellingen Shire Libraries, wehave coordinated a Storytelling Event.
This project was a vision from a night by candle light. In 2017, Alice Springs, writing one evening the vision of wanting to see story and art showcased to the celebrate life, and its many diverse outlooks and interpretations from all walks of life.
This is how Voice Within was created in late 2018. With the combination of my skills, a touch of creativity and reflecting, reviewing and continuing the vision of the one night in Alice, out was birthed (not too painful), People's Library 2020: Voices of the Community. It is a project to invite all community members to tell their story and learn the art of oral storytelling; ancient, and one of the first forms of storytelling known historically by human.
The scope of this project is to reduce social isolation. Can you believe the year we are having to have this scope!?
Community members are offered free story-crafting workshops to encourage people to find their story, their voice. Held by local artist, poet, photographer Bernard Kelly-Edwards and local creative, jewellery designer and artist Wilany. Us three together hold space for story to be heard through deep-listening, visioning and crafting.
The tales shared are open to a diverse number of categories from tall tales to legend, to myths and traditional story, and personal story to folktale. The only requirement? It must be written by the person themselves. We have had 22 people come to the workshops so far, so grateful for all shared. Thank You to those who came along.
Alongside the workshops comes the events. These are held in Bellingen, Urunga and Dorrigo Libraries. We had the first one at the Bellingen Library. What a wonderful coming together of an intimate (due to fears around the pandemic, people of Bellingen were beginning to self-isolate), yet engaged group of people; a coming together of storytellers and audience. The vision!
We heard stories of reconnections with estranged fathers, and how a son reached out with a simple phone call and changed both their lives from that moment. A story of a witnessing of the death of a Gum Tree, who called the storyteller to turn and see how it fell to its resting place. And a story of a Black Cockatoo, finds it purpose, finding its voice.
We are hoping and working towards in keeping to the scope, but this would have to be online. Would you like to be a part of this? Contact us!
Social distancing is our most important action in being self-responsible and caring for other's wellbeing. However, we can still create platforms to be socially connected. Let's do this! Who knows who we will reach.