DISQUS

Susan Kishner · 1 year ago

I must say this is a great article i enjoyed reading it keep the good work :)

Peter · 1 year ago

Great post Snug

maria rosa · 1 year ago

I liked your article as it is very heartfelt. I have also done research on independent media, community media, indigenous media, etc. Shakthi knows me from Ngarda Tv and Radio here in Roebourne. All I can contest to this article is that even though SOMETIMES people in remote, "poor" (I use this term from your article, but with caution because poverty is a very complex theme in itself) areas DO have the means to tell their story (to the greater public, or "others") maybe they're just not really that interested in doing so. That does not mean that they don't derive immense pleasure and satisfaction from the courses, workshops, and activities provided by organizations like CuriousWorks. Of course these are very positive for the children, youngsters, elders, whoever participates. From my experience here I have not observed much effort in continuing these sorts of activities independently after the facilitators of the workshops have departed. And here they DO have the means, they have the local TV station, where they can come and produce their own programs, many have their own video cameras. I am not saying that providing media for people to tell their own stories is useless, what I am saying is that similar to all the other efforts you mentioned: money, employment programs, health programs, anti alcohol and drug abuse programs, educational programs... media capacitation is the answer for some, but does not resolve the situation for the community as a whole. So then I ask... is there really something to "change"? Maybe people would be content with how things are, and unhappiness is created by others telling them their lifestyle is inadequate? I just mention this because you called your article "the road to hell". Sure, Roebourne is as hot as hell, but if you look up at the skies at dawn or dusk you are truly looking at heaven.
I must emphasize that all these programs are positive and should continue as they are a joy and sometimes a lifeline, for some people: for those who are interested in participating. Media, be it mainstream commercial, state/public or community media, is not a "truthful" description of the life and stories of anyone, it is how the artist, reporter, production manager, or indigenous person behind the camera interprets and understands the story or issue. What media capacitation provides is a platform through which people - those who would like to- can use to produce a program.

Rebecca Sng · 1 year ago

You raise a bunch of interesting points Maria Rosa..... Before I talk about that, I just wanted to say that I'm mildly panicked that anyone would think I was referring to Roeburn as hell. Having just come back from two weeks in Laos, I actually just been meditating about how much of the people in the rural and "poor" communities I met there seemed to pretty darn happy. The 'hell' I spoke of was actually a reference to the kind of messes we tend to get ourselves in when we intervene in communities without understanding or respecting them. It's an extreme term I know, but I've had some contact to an indigenous agency dealing with Stolen Generation survivors lately and I guess I'm thinking extremes at the moment. I understand from Shakthi that Roeburn was a deeply beautiful place and I apologise if anyone thought I meant to say otherwise.

I think the other place I've failed to make myself clear is in the definition of "stories". It's kind of a term us narrative therapists bandy about....I mean it to encompass more than telling a story in media sense. To me it includes a person's beliefs about who they are and where they've come from. They might tell me in words, pictures, music but they also can communicate it in the decisions they make, the dreams they dare to have, what they get angry about or the way they get up in the morning. It's in that wider sense of story that I meant it can influence the future. I don't believe that to be restricted to those who are interested in media. I think the beliefs all people have about themselves and their past are fundamental in their future choices and therefore the path for themselves and their community.

Your idea about "change" itself being demanded only from the outside is a very interesting one. You're right. I only assume there is a need for change because of the "story" I have about this community, based really on statistics about literacy, child protection, health etc. But as we all know, statistics can be a subjective as any media story and so your point is well taken. Are the good people of Roeburn happy with things the way they are? That is probably an excellent question to begin with. One I probably would have asked earlier, had I been taking my own post to heart..... :)

Thanks for giving me so much to think about!

RS

Shakthi · 1 year ago

dear maria,

thank you for sharing your thoughts, the best thing these posts can do is start a discussion and get us all out of our comfort zones.

like rebecca, i never thought of 'the road to hell' as referring to any particular geographical place or actual community. i took it to be a reference to rebecca's quote about the evil that can be wrought by do-gooders: the hell that can be created by well-meaning people asserting change in places they have little knowledge about, in disruptive ways.

curiousworks doesn't work with a community in an effort to change it into something we think is better. we work with a community to set up structures, and provide methods, for open networking and open, diverse communication. these structures and methods - technical, creative, communal - can be utilised by the people in that community to change their own environment, by representing themselves in their own way - if they so wish.

to me, rebecca's post outlines quite well the full power of having that structure and those methods available in your community. coming from her background as a psychologist, she draws on the perspective of narrative therapy - where the stories people make up about themselves, in a very broad sense, have a great effect on how they think about themselves and therefore what they do or don't do.

in terms of continuing media or arts work after the facilitators have left the town. i do think it is possible. we're proud of how we've been able to collaborate with ngarluma aboriginal corporation and they have created several videos, taken photos and preserved cultural knowledge since we have left. they are doing it in an integrated, strategic way. and they're doing it on their own. we just planted the seeds of thought and provided knowledge on simple, affordable ways to create and share multimedia about their community.

with kids it's much harder to keep these things going, but i do believe it is possible there too. it is just that planting the seeds is not enough: you need to actively present heaps of fun ideas for them to come together and create art or multimedia over a long-term period. once this has taken off - you have lots of returning kids- you can train those who are most interested in the work, the older ones, to keep facilitating it without you.

the resources you need for this task however, are large and we certainly didn't have the budget for it in 2008. i hope we can gather more resources and that we can return to roebourne and help you with this, however, if you are still there in 2009!