Belonging
Ann Williams-Fitzgerald
'When I consider the short span of my life absorbed in the eternity of
all time,
or the small part of space which I can touch or see engulfed by
the infinite immensity of spaces that I know not and that know me not,
I am frightened and astonished to see myself here instead of there...
Now instead of then'.
Blaise Pascal
Introduction to the Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens
Mackay Exhibition
Lagoons Gallery, Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens Lagoon Street Mackay
Opening night: Friday 21st September @ 6.30pm
Opening Speaker: Erica Nagle
Executive Manager Community & Customer Services - Mackay City Council
Exhibition dates: 21st September - 14th October 2007
The Mackay Region
Proserpine Exhibition
Denise Vanderlugt Gallery, Main Street Proserpine
Opening night: Wednesday 17th October @ 6.30pm
Opening Speaker: Jan Jarrett MP
Member for Whitsunday
Exhibition dates: 17th October - 31st October 2007
The Whitsunday Region
This exhibition is themed belonging, the intention is to investigate how the individual lives within their home space and how this space relates to community space. By extension, the exhibition project considers how community space relates to regional space and how regional spaces form part of the national perspective. The exhibition explores the broader concept of the sense of belonging in a regional area.
Dale Arvidsson
(D Arvidsson 2007, pers. comm., July)
recently said, "Some things intrinsically belong. Whether it's the memory of an item tied to a place - a box that always sat on Grandma's dresser, the sounds of a wind-chime at a holiday house on the beach - or a memory of a place itself. These things gel in our minds and form a connection from the present to the past".
Objects, places, people and memories help create a sense of place - a location that is not just passed through on the way to another destination. These places hold something special in our hearts and minds. We cannot always easily describe this sense, but inside we feel comfort from them on emotional and intellectual levels. Even after that place is gone or no longer accessible - these special feelings remain with us. Ephemeral and melancholic, nevertheless they can anchor us to a place in a real way - these intangible feelings seem to hold body and spirit as one. It's satisfying, to know absolutely where you belong.
To be mentally healthy, human beings need to possess feelings of belonging. When we have a sense of belonging we can be intimate, we can feel and we can connect to the world around us.
If we cannot develop this feeling of belonging, then we will feel lost or disconnected from self, from our families and from our communities.
John Di Stefano (Di Stefano et al. 2002, pp 38) writes 'Notions of physical geography and its relationship to history have become more fluid than they were in the past. This affects how we think about and experience a sense of home and belonging. For many people today who are displaced as a result of various social, political, or personal reasons, the notion of home is perhaps best understood as a sense of being between places, rather than being rooted definitely in one singular place and by extension, exclusively to one single identity'.
The Mackay/Whitsunday Region has people from many different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics there are over thirty-three nationalities represented in this region.
Many of us derive our sense of belonging from our families, workplaces, our local histories, ancestral cultures and the environment. We seem to have an instinctive need to find out where and how we belong. It is my view that our sense of belonging deepens as we connect to our ancestral roots, to our personal space and place.
Mackay has a unique environment reflective of the colours of the reef, water, mountains and rainforest. The artists living and working here are surrounded by the local colours of blue and green and art assists in keeping our culture and heritage 'active' and alive in the community.
Through the language of art we can express, enjoy and value each other's identity and recognise that we all have a role to play in ensuring the wellbeing, contribution and participation of people in our community.
Belonging to a place and developing a sense of place comes from knowing and celebrating the histories and geography of land, the landscapes and streets where one walks every day - being so familiar with them that you hear and see them with your ears and eyes closed.
I believe that a sense of belonging starts at a personal level and weaves itself through all the layers of our lives. It starts with being able to feel safe and comfortable in a place. Being accepted for who you are in all your uniqueness, whatever your origin, language, beliefs or skin colour. Having supportive family and friends in your midst, in both good and bad times. As a community we weave our individual lives into a bigger layer of interconnectedness that reaches out not only regionally, nationally but also globally. Each strand in the tapestry of connectedness is vital.
Belonging is being at home in a place and being connected to others. For me working with other women artists gives me my sense of belonging. We all have a cultural background that is worth acknowledging and sharing with each other.
This exhibition aims to highlight that we all have a rich heritage, diverse sense of belonging within our environments; our relationship with self and community, community and place, place and culture.
The seven woman artists; Juanita Connolly, Belinda Curry, Jenny De Thomasis, Lily Halton, Tracey Johnson, Jenny Limmage and Denise Neville were all invited to consider the concept of belonging, to produce artwork that reflected an aspect of their sense of belonging in the Mackay/Whitsunday region.
Curator: Ann Williams-Fitzgerald
The Artists
Juanita Connolly
Belinda Curry
Jenny De Thomasis
Lily Halton
Tracey Johnson
Jenny Limmage
Denise Neville
Ann Williams-Fitzgerald [Curator]
REFERENCES
Stefano, J D (2002) 'Moving Images of Home', Art Journal, Vol. 61, No 4 (Winter, 2002), pp 38
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Without your support the printing of the exhibition catalogue would not have been possible.
The Proserpine exhibition and exhibition catalogue has been supported by a grant from the Whitsunday Regional Arts Development Fund. The Regional Arts Development Fund is a Queensland Government and Whitsunday Shire Council partnership to support local arts and culture.
My deepest thanks go to:
WHITSUNDAYS: Jan Jarrett MP, Member for Whitsunday and Jody Lee, Whitsunday Shire Council
MACKAY: Mackay City Council
- Erica Nagle, Executive Manager Community & Customer Services
- Dale Arvidsson, Acting Curator, Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens
Contact: Exhibition Curator
Ann Williams-Fitzgerald
0417 602822
annwf@optusnet.com.au
Catalogue, web design and photography by Ann Williams-Fitzgerald (c) 2007
Artwork featured throughout catalogue & website by Jenny De Thomasis
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