A unique partnership between local footballers and artists has been established in Moree to give young indigenous people a voice by strengthening their creative abilities.
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The Moree Boomerangs have teamed up with Beyond Empathy and Melbourne-based company Polyglot Theatre as part of the First on the Ladder (FOTL) project – a three-year, arts-meets-sports program aimed at celebrating the many achievements and activities of the Boomerangs Rugby League Club through a series of visual art and sound-based projects.
Throughout the three years, the project will explore the culture and achievements of Aboriginal children and their communities through a range of creative experiences including radio broadcasting, paste ups, zine-making, animation and music.
FOTL artistic director Ian Pidd from Polyglot Theatre said the Moree Boomerangs were chosen to take part in the project because of the great things they’re doing in the community, particularly with the children at Barwon Learning Centre.
“The story at the Boomerangs is really strong,” he said. “From the board down, they understand their role in the community.”
Mr Pidd said Polyglot Theatre is interested in creating situations where people, particularly children, can communicate whatever is on their mind using guerilla art.
“It’s for people who already have things to say but don’t have many places to say it,” he said.
“We’ll be using a guerilla radio show and paste-ups for people to talk about whatever they want to talk about. Mostly that’s talking about the football club but what they’re really talking about is community, family, resilience.
“They’ll have the opportunity to talk about the histories of the club and Moree from the point of view of the club.
“The aim is to have fun, be playful and surprising and for people from outside the club to find out more about what the Boomies are doing.”
For a number of years, Moree Boomerangs have had a strong relationship with Barwon Learning Centre and this project will help to further enhance that, with the children from the school to play a significant role in FOTL.
“We’re just working with them to create more of an opportunity with our kids in the community to have a look at other areas of their interest outside of sport,” Boomerangs head coach Chris Binge said.
Barwon Learning Centre principal Margie Hayes said the children significantly benefit from the relationship with the Boomerangs, who for years have been great mentors to the students.
“When the Boomies got into the semi-finals a few years ago, the kids’ literacy was around writing letters of support to the team; I’ve never seen the children so motivated in their writing,” she said.
“It gives the kids a sense of pride; they feel valued because the Boomies are an essential part of the community and a part of the Aboriginal community.”
Creating community: What is happening as part of the First on the Ladder project in Moree?
People in the Moree community may have spotted giant images of Moree Boomerangs players popping up on random walls around town recently.
The paste-ups are part of the First on the Ladder project, which kicked off in Moree at the start of the rugby league season this year.
The arts-meets-sports project will run for the next three years, during which time local and visiting artists will work with the Boomerangs community to create a series of guerilla-type visual art and sound-based projects that aim to celebrate and strengthen cultural pride and community coorperation.
Since the beginning of the football season, local photographer Raquel Clarke has been documenting the Boomerangs’ home games and then sends the photos to artists Janelle Boyd and Paula Duncan who work with young people in the community to turn the pics into large-scale paste-ups.
Using flour, sugar and water, the paste-ups are glued to various walls around Moree.
They may be seen on walls at Burt Jovanovick Oval, Miyay Birray, Barwon Learning Centre, Moree skate park, Cafe Gali and a number of other locations.
“They just appear and people really like them,” Janelle Boyd said.
“They’re designed to be impermanent, so they’ll just dissipate over time.”
Ms Boyd said the paste-ups celebrate the local heroes from the Boomerangs club and help create a culture of community participation.
“It’s getting people talking about the football team and connecting the community,” she said.
In addition to the paste-ups, artistic director of the project, Ian Pidd from Polyglot Theatre has been running radio broadcast workshops with the community during Boomerangs home games.
Mr Pidd has been working with young people to build their skills in commentating, audio production and interviewing and has established the Boomerangs’ very own radio program, the BBC – Boomerang Broadcasting Coorperation.
“The kids love it,” he said.
Mr Pidd said the idea is for the kids to take over the running of the radio station by next year.
All the radio equipment now belongs to the Boomerangs club as part of the project, which has received funding through the federal government’s Catalyst Cultural Fund.