Page 1891 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 2 May 2012
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I acknowledge the people who organised the screening here in the ACT: obviously Rachel Wotton, again an absolutely extraordinary person; Saul Isbister; and, locally, David Heckendorf, Lexxie Jury and Sally Richards. Sally and I were having a chat about this when we were talking about screening Scarlet Road. Sally has a son with a disability and she talked about the fact that this is the sort of issue we need to be able to discuss. People with a disability have the same needs, wants and desires as anyone else, and we should not be afraid to have this conversation. I congratulate everyone involved with this wonderful documentary.
On 1 April I attended an exhibition. I missed the opening of the exhibition on 30 March, but the exhibition is at the Belconnen Arts Centre and is called “Open your eyes … observations and interpretation and hidden treasures … the soul and spirit of the multicultural community”. This exhibition was presented by the ACT Multicultural Arts Officer. The words from the program are perfect in explaining it:
Through their works, each artist shares their personal reflections and interpretations of the spirit and cultural influences of their country and heritage.
The exhibition is an excellent example of how art can act as an intercultural language, bringing together artists from very different nationalities to share a common vision of promoting and recognising art in Canberra and to show that the art circles do not end in one country, but overlap all over the world.
This exhibition creates a unique multicultural corridor which provides a vibrant artistic kaleidoscope for audiences.
The event I attended on 1 April involved each of the artists talking about their influences and how they came to present the pieces in the exhibition. It was also designed to encourage dialogue amongst visual artists from different cultural backgrounds. The artists included Surya Bajracharya of Nepal, Nida Bangash of Pakistan, Dionisia Salas of Spain and Chile, Marzena Wasikowska of Holland, Yoko Yamaguchi of Japan, and Michal Glikson. I congratulate them and the Multicultural Arts Officer for putting on a wonderful exhibition.
On 16 April I attended the launch of the Mental Illness Education ACT resource, the magazine Hang On To This, which provides mental health educational information for young people in ACT schools. I acknowledge that the minister for education, Dr Bourke, launched the resource and announced that the ACT government would fund this resource. I stand to be corrected today, but I understand that this funding is through the Greens’ parliamentary agreement with the government under the item for mental health education in schools. It is great to see that that funding has resulted in this sort of wonderful resource.
MIEACT are an absolutely wonderful organisation. I believe, as do a number of people, they are leaders not just in the ACT but nationally in providing mental health education through the personal stories they tell and their educators. It is great that this resource has got funding. It is wonderful recognition of a wonderful ACT organisation.
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