CALL HOME AT SWELL FESTIVAL 2023
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WE DID IT!
Our sculpture called ‘CALL HOME’ was beautifully landed on the shores of Currumbin Beach during the SWELL Sculpture Festival in September. With thousands of visitors experiencing the an iconic arts festival, Call Home was privileged to be an installation that also shared the story of our human connections with nature.
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Many people saw themselves on the artwork's globe mirror and became a part of the Australian landscape. The body of the sculpture was filled with 70 hand-made tiles with the subjects of fauna, flora, and marine life of Australia. |
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The kids' reactions to the CALL HOME tiles, particular the ones representing fauna, were overwhelming. They were excited by touching the tiles, as their parents made the sounds of the animals. |
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No words can describe the success of the exhibit of 40 photo paintings, all in uniform size, that showed our local cultural diversity.
There were hundreds of guests on Opening Night of the exhibition in Robina Community Art Gallery in August 2023.
For a week, the social media of different groups and individuals were filled with photos and feedback about the exhibition. Many wrote about it and others made ‘stories’ about the exhibition on their social media pages.
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The photos of this exceptional exhibition were taken in 2022-23 by Hengameh Shamloo, while Debbie, Bolor, Hengameh, led by Nasrin, painted over the costumes on the photos with ink and brush, and made them alive as paintings.
The collection will be on display during Harmony Week at the foyer gallery of Gold Coast University and Robina Hospitals. The Logan Art Gallery will be the next host for the collection.
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Special thanks to Gold Coast City Council, Arts and Culture for funding this project through the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF). |
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ARTS AND WELLBEING
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
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Ten creative-writing workshops, accompanied by three art therapy sessions, empowered the participants to learn and practise self-resilience against unpleasant life incidents such as domestic and family violence.
The title of this project was ‘Knowledge is Power’.
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There were sharing stories – verbal and written, development of skills in poetry and writing for the purpose of self-expression, developing characters, and a session on Writing for Resilience: Release Your Inner Strength. |
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The workshops were led by Dr Heba Mohtady Ali, an Egyptian-born researcher, novelist and professor. Participants of the workshops had a wide range of backgrounds and beliefs from across Europe and Asia. They learned about resilience in the face of tough situations, and the importance of using writing and arts for creative expression as well as a way to help overcome physical, mental and emotional trauma. |
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GCMAGIC has extended its activities in the community arts field in different spaces as a service provider |
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- Providing cultural presentation at Southport State School during the Multicultural Month of August
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- Collaborating with our organisation partner - Mental Health Foundation Australia to hold an event for the Portuguese community on 31 October – Mental Health Month
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Promoting and participating in Dance for Brain Health organised by Dance for Parkinson’s Australia, held on 8th October at HOTA
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The ‘Connection’ project is complete.
GCMAGIC was auspice and mentor to Women Empowerment and Leadership (WEL) for their project called ‘Connection’, funded by Multicultural Affairs Queensland, 2022-2023.
The project consisted of 10 social participation activities organised by WEL for the emerging Afghan community and a collection stories publication called ‘My Journey…I AM SAFE NOW’. We are grateful to mentor WEL for the development of their project and played an essential role in their publication. The book was launched at Queensland Parliament House.
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‘Knowledge is Power’
The project was a wonderful way to bring harmony within and allow a safe space to have creative expression and share foods from across the world, as well as increase understanding across different cultures.
-Aldwyn Altuney, AA Xpose Media
‘The People and The Place – Gold Coast’ photo-painting exhibition
“WOW…when I walked in at the gallery, I thought these 40 uniformed size artworks are paintings…it was a first time I experience ‘photo-painting’ arts...innovative, talented, colorful. Thanks for this amazing art exhibition.
-Mona Jerald, local artist
Dance for Brain Health
An amazing experience that how arts in the form of dance can affect positively physical and psychological health. Thanks to Dr Erica Rose Jeffrey the organiser and conductor of the session.
-Nasrin Vaziri, GCMAGIC
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Are you an artist based on the Gold Coast? Whatever your art form or practice, we invite you to become a GCMAGIC Artist Member. We organise and coordinate a diverse range of events and programs, such as exhibitions, art-craft displays, skills development, writing and poetry workshops, cultural events, women's story sharing. We encourage and nurture new and innovative ideas. We can also assist in establishing and growing your arts practice, as well as in applying for grant funds. We look forward to working with you. Register your interest HERE. https://bit.ly/3dBCiKx
The GCMAGIC team are looking forward to working with other local artists who are passionate about growing the arts and culture practice on the Gold Coast. We invite artists to share their passions and aspirations to inspire community members to engage and experience creativity with us.
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Free To Use Materials for Artists |
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GCMAGIC is inviting all our member artists to use materials that are available at the GCMAGIC office. The materials are for you to use if you need them. Please contact Nasrin at [email protected] with the subject MATERIALS to set a time for your visit.
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BRICKS Newsletter
Publisher: GCMAGIC
Director: Nasrin Vaziri
Editor: Roselle Tenefrancia
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FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA |
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