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Blooming King Oysters Mountain Men Upwey’s Brave Hearts Space for Art Cafe Tarts Review Plus More...
ISSUE 32
Autumn 2019 The hillscene is created in partnership with Burrinja
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BELGRAVE
Sunday of the Month
CRAFT . DESIGN . PRODUCE . MUSIC REYNOLDS
LANE
BELGRAVE
WHATS ON
Burrinja | Cnr Glenfern Rd & Matson Drive, Upwey | ph: (03) 9754 8723 | w: burrinja.org.au
LIOR AND PAUL GRABOWSKY FRI 14 JUN 8PM
Revel in two of Australia’s most acclaimed musicians and composers performing together on Burrinja’s stage! Together they will be reinventing some of Lior’s most cherished songs as well as bringing their own individual voices to this special show.
BABAR THE ELEPHANT AND MOZART MELODIES SAT 6 JULY 1PM & 3PM
Don’t miss this entertaining and popular introduction to the Orchestra, complete with a full orchestra on stage, music, songs, story line, narrators, characters in costume and wonderful video imagery. The story of Babar the Elephant has been a much-loved children’s favourite for almost 100 years now, from the original French books and A.A. Milne’s English versions; to animations, feature films and major concert works.
MY SIGHT THEIR SIGHT FRI 5 JUL 7PM
Be captivated and challenged by this playfully provocative exploration of the senses. How would you adapt without sight - blindfolded? Would you rise to the challenge or trip over your own feet? My Sight Their Sight engages with the audience to show us how movement, dance, and circus can transcend something that most of us take for granted – SIGHT. Join creator Abbie Madden, Director of the company Blindful, for an insightful Q&A after the performance. 2 – Hillscene Autumn ‘19
In this issue 05
WOW, GREAT COVER!
06
BLOOMING KING
OYSTERS 10
HERE ME
YOUTH ARTS PROJECT
12
MOUNTAIN MEN
14
UPWEY’S BRAVEHEARTS
17
CAFE TARTS
COOKS CORNER
18
SEED OF LIFE
FARMERS’ MARKET
20
SPACE FOR ART
Guest Editor: Justine Walsh Guest Designer: Bluzal Field Cover: Outfoxed by Rebecca Wolske Editorial Committee: Justine Walsh. Cameron Semmens, Adriana Alvarez, Bluzal Field, Toni Main, Ross Farnell. Contributors: Adriana Alvarez, Bluzal Field, Justine Walsh, Tiffany Morris-North, Cameron Semmens, Fotoula Reynolds, Linda Harding, Megan Ashmore, Maroulla Radisavic, Dianne Porter, Peter Hibberd, Lisa Roberts, Anna James.
Renovators Delight by cover artist Rebecca Wolske
The hillscene is created in partnership with Burrinja
facebook: The Hillscene www.hillscene.com.au blog: hillsceneblog.wordpress.com/ For submission and advertising enquiries email: hillscene@westnet.com.au Printed by Ferntree Print on Envirocare 100gsm recycled paper. © Copyright 2016 in this issue – 3
Words by Bluzal Field Images by Bluzal Field & Rebecca Wolske This edition’s cover artist, Rebecca Wolske, blew me away with her incredible entry in to the Upwey Archies in 2018. A beautiful portrait done in textiles using quilting technique, it was so intricate that it took me a moment to realise that it was textile and not paint…my surprise and amazement at the detail as I looked closer, made the work so unique. (See inset on opposite page.) I asked if Rebecca is she gets that kind of response to her work regularly? The last couple of years I have definitely. I’ve really been working hard at getting all the elements to having a piece that “wows” really. Before that it was all very bland and same same. I wasn’t getting the values and the shading in the primary and secondary focus. I’m not an artist trained in university or anything. I’ve slowly built up my own skills just 4 – Hillscene Autumn ‘19
reading, looking and researching. So the last couple of years I feel like I’ve finally got there. Now I just to keep building my art, I just keep going to workshops. I keep learning. I just don’t stop learning, and love that. That excitement of learning something new. In terms of the specifics how has your creative process evolved? What does your practice look like now as opposed to what it was two or three years ago? So what it was two or three years ago was your typical quilting which was just applique, trying to build up a picture. I made a couple of pictorial works, but they were still a bit two dimensional. I found a book on Amazon called “Landscape Quilting”, read it cover to cover, four or five times and I thought yes, this is the way forward. I made a work called on the seven deadly sins, and it got accepted into A.Q.C.
Wow, Great Cover! (Australasian Quilt Convention), which was like WOW! But I still wanted to get into more detail, more art so I found a group called Oz Quilts and they’re an art quilting group. Do you find the use of the words quilt or quilting is misleading when it comes to the style of work you do? We say “quilts” is debatable. If you look at the last 20 years fabric art it has really evolved. I’m bored with just straight lines and trying to do little pieces and all that. It just doesn’t excite me anymore. Whereas building up a scene and portraying that into thread, I find that a challenge. There are little things that you add into you got your mixed media, painting and then thread painting. So joining Oz Quilts really made me want to up the ante, I saw the calibre of work they were producing and really wanted to make art. Which artwork really represents your transition from perhaps a traditional quilter into that more 3D space that you’re talking about? The first one that really brought me forward from that past quilting style is “Rust”. I made it for an Oz Quilt Challenge, and I was like I gonna make one that is really quite abstract and just an element of something rather than a whole picture. Rust got accepted. It is quite hard to get accepted in the art quilting world because it’s heavily judged by curators of galleries and you might be a textile artist who’s been in the industry for a long time and there might be someone from entirely different arts background. It actually sounds like it’s a kind of lovely challenge being on the fringe of ideas and perceptions changing.
Yes. We are slowly filtering into the galleries. Yeah it’s very slow. But every time one of us in the industry wins an award and blows people away, like my portrait where everyone on the day thinks it’s a painting until they get close and realize it’s fabric and that just blows them away. That’s awesome because it means that our techniques, our way of showing people what you can do with thread and fabric is just as good as painting in oils or watercolor. As we walked around Rebecca’s studio, which is part of the Eastern Makers and Creators, she showed me the piece she was currently finishing, Out-Foxed (our cover for this edition). Rebecca shared with me the story of where the image and idea came from.
This actually came from a photo my husband took. It was in our backyard in Boronia. The dogs in the neighborhood were going crazy one morning and my husband was like, “What is going on with these dogs?” He thought it was likely somebody was in the backyard. So he got his camera and he just put it up over the fence and pointed it to where the grassed area was and took a photo randomly. There hidden in the grass was this fox. Morning had snuck up on her, she was stuck in our back corner of our yard, hiding. If see the photo you will not believe it. And so I knew that I was always going to make a piece out of the fox. If you would like to see more of Rebecca’s work you can follow her on instagram @wolskerebecca and check out the Eastern Makers and Creators in facebook group facebook.com/groups/EMACH,or on the Dandenong Ranges Open Studios website, openstudios.org.au/emach The book mentioned in the article is “The Art of Landscape Quilting” by Nancy Zieman and Natalie Sewell. Wow, Great Cover! – 5
Blooming King Oysters A labour of love growing in the dark
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Words by Adrianna Alvarez Photography by King Oysters Mushrooms
n an ordinary street in Upwey, an urban farm is busily producing O a high quality gourmet food that is eaten in some of the best restaurants around Melbourne. Tucked away in the backyard are two unassuming shipping containers. When you open the door a mist temporarily lifts to expose a scientific, alien landscape where the produce is grown in a controlled, cool and humid environment. This is where King Oyster Mushrooms are grown with love and passion by John Ford and his wife Libby Maitland. John has loved mushrooms since he was a kid, when he spent a lot of time hunting around in the forest and fields. At 18, whilst spending a year in Germany, he learnt a lot about foraging and how to identify and pick mushrooms in the wild. To be able to forage effectively and confidently requires a level of scientific knowledge of mushrooms, called mycology. That love continued as an interest for John until about 5 years ago when he found out that mushroom growing was a hobby you could do at home. “I thought wow you can grow your own mushrooms that weren’t just button mushrooms. It was a complete revelation.” says John. “I can extend this love I have which is just in the Autumn months to a year round thing.” At that stage he had no thoughts of turning it into a business, but because it’s very time consuming, Libby suggested he give up his other hobbies, like beer brewing and music to continue with his mushroom growing passion. He enjoyed it so much that at the start of last year when he finished up a job he decided to try to give it a real go as a business. Initially part time and then focusing on full time for the future. The focus of John’s mushroom farm is to be able to run a business that aligns with his philosophy and ethics. Having come from a marine biology background where he worked with small scale fishermen, he has seen first hand the importance of sustainable practices to continue to preserve the natural environment, something that is lost with
large scale fishing practices. That environmental ethic is something he firmly strives for and believes in. Growing a high quality, local product that uses as many sustainable practices as possible. Whether it be using all locally made and sourced materials, including the mushroom sawdust ready to fruit, to his choice of packaging, they’re all about maintaining his ethical philosophy. “I put a lot of thought into the way I grow and then the way I present my product, in making sure it’s high quality but also making sure that I’m thinking of having the smallest environmental impact that I can through the whole process,” says John. One example of considering the whole process is from when John was starting out, he was selling mushrooms to a cafe in Mountain Gate and using their coffee grounds to grow the mushrooms in. Another example is his decision not to use plastic packaging even though it would give his product a longer shelf life. His cardboard packaging is sustainable but means the mushrooms have to be sold fresh, within a few days of picking, to avoid deterioration. The plastic bags he uses to grow the mushrooms in are sent to a plant in Monbulk with a prototype unit that turns plastic into diesel, which is then going to be used as a fuel. His small scale urban farm selling very fresh local product is an alternative to the mushrooms that you get when you go to the supermarket which are grown by large producers, who buy everything in from overseas, including their fruiting stock. “I’m providing an alternative for that but obviously being Australian made and everything being sourced here in Australia, with Australian labour, they’re always going to be more expensive,” explains John. “But I try to make that up by making sure that mine are the freshest and the highest quality and I grow varieties that you just won’t see anywhere else.”
Blooming King Oysters – 7
He grows up to 12 different varieties of mushrooms, mostly Oysters, including pinks, yellows, blues, whites, elms, phoenix and at the moment tan oysters too. Plus on occasions King Oysters, shiitakes and lion’s manes. “Lion’s mane are very popular at the moment. I’ve been selling this to for example Attica, one of Melbourne’s top restaurants. A couple of other restaurants as well via a distributor, so it’s good to know that local product from Upwey is being served in the best restaurants in Melbourne,” says John. His mushrooms business is now taking off to the point where he needs to expand and is moving to a farm in Monbulk to be able to have two more shipping containers, and possibly more. King Oyster Mushrooms are being sold locally to cafes like Nevedya in Upwey, Earthly Pleasures in Belgrave, Kallista Deli in Kallista and occasionally Coonara Springs in Olinda where they all get made into delicious dishes. He hasn’t found a distributor in the hills but is interested in finding
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local places to retail them. Further afield he’s selling them to CERES market in Brunswick and on their delivery service and at some farmers markets like Belgrave Big Dreams Market. It’s a steadily growing business as people become more interested in buying food that has a strong ethical foundation. “Certainly Melbourne’s come into its own in the terms of food culture and valuing food that is locally produced. We’re not trying to emulate somewhere else and trying to use food from elsewhere. There’s a maturity in the Melbourne food scene and that goes back to restaurants but also what regular people buy who are interested in good food… and that’s really been able to drive this kind of business growth. So the mushroom business is a growing industry... because of that change. We’ll see how far it can go.” For more information go to @kingoystermushrooms on Instagram or facebook, or email kingoysterfungi@gmail.com
John’s Favourite Mushroom Recipe All these mushrooms are best with just hot olive oil. Just tear them don’t cut them. Add them into the pan, you don’t need very long at all. Add some locally made Saori Citrus Ponzu sauce, just a dash of that, spoon it around for 15 seconds, then turn it off. You don’t want to burn the sauce just caramelise it a little bit and that’s all you need.
Above: John Maitland cooking up a storm
Blooming King Oysters – 9
HERE ME - youth arts project Words & photography by Dani-Ela Kayler
id you see something curious on the streets of Belgrave on the D morning of Saturday 19 April? You may have been witnessing the epic power of 10 young people participating in HEAR ME. HERE ME youth arts project saw teenagers exploring misconceptions and stereotypes held about young people. The project set out to give teenagers the opportunity to be seen and heard in their community, to take up space in a positive and creative way. At the same time activating public spaces and fostering a sense of belonging. Local artist and secondary teacher Dani-Ela Kayler ran the HERE ME workshops. Working in the Yarra Ranges over the past 8 years, Dani-Ela believes there are not enough opportunities for young people to creatively and effectively have a voice within their communities. She wanted to create a platform for young people to discredit the stereotype of GenYers being “self-centred, irresponsible and apathetic” (Blog by Emily Chantler. UN Youth Australia). There are also limited activities offered in and around Belgrave during school holidays targeting this aged group. HERE ME invited young people aged 13-18 years old to share and interact with their community offering a different perspective, to get people thinking differently. From a student survey Dani-Ela conducted with local students, 75% said they felt misunderstood, misquoted and misrepresented. Working in schools, Dani-Ela experiences teenagers as intelligent, brave and interesting, and she set out to share this with the public in public space. She also witnesses teenagers seeing themselves as resilient and wise. Young people in the hills in particular live in a very unique place on the outskirts of Melbourne, connected to nature, and at times a little isolated with PT and opportunities. This gives them an equally unique perspective on life. Supported by the literature from the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria that “young people are experts in their own lives and experiences, and their voices need amplification. Young people 10 – Hillscene Autumn ‘19
often face limited options to be heard on the many different things they care about and are affected by, and are largely under- or misrepresented.” Studies have also found the significant positive impact community-based arts participation had on the personal wellbeing of young people, supported by the work Tasmanian Youth Dance Company Stompin achieves with its young people. Teenagers crave is to be listened to; to be heard is to feel like they belong, that they matter, that their opinions count. (Recommended reading, an interview with Caitlin Comerford and Mary Shannon, Artistic Director and Producer of Stompin, “More than just art: youth, dance, and community” article found on Artshub) Remember that ‘young adults’ are just that: adults, just younger. The next generation worth listening to. Reflecting on their unique experiences as teenagers, participants were the co-collaborators in the creative development of this project, where they created a performance art work flashmob-style. What is that, you might be asking? Well, artists who make performance art have something they want to tell the public through their artwork. HERE ME invited teenagers to respond to and say something about the misconceptions and stereotypes about young people these days. A flashmob is where a group of people assemble suddenly in a public space, for a brief time, then disperse to reappear somewhere else. Commonly thought of as a dance event, HERE ME will not be that kind of flashmob. Think flashmob meets peaceful protest. HERE ME was planned, rehearsed and presented to the accidental audiences of local café customers, day-trippers and tourists passing through Belgrave. Something like the streets of Belgrave has never seen before. Dani-Ela says, “this project was about young people developing self-awareness and self-confidence
using their bodies in space as a vehicle to learn about and express themselves, performing in and inhabiting public spaces. Which they did with great success.” The idea was inspired by the work of Austrian choreographer Willi Dorner and his project Bodies in Urban Spaces, which has been performed around the world many times. His aim is to activate public spaces by getting his audience to see and engage with their surroundings in a different way; to motivate them to reflect on their urban surroundings and their own movement behaviour and habits. A simple, colourful and effective idea (check out their work online). “The interventions are temporary without leaving a trace, but imprints in the eye-witnesses’ memory”. Dani-Ela first met Willi Dorner’s work in Bern in 2008, when she was working in Switzerland, teaching performance making. So this little idea has been simmering for quite some time, and she is thrilled to have been given the support and funding by the Yarra Ranges Council to engage and collaborate with young people in activating public spaces in the Yarra Ranges.
Central to the project has been the creative process and the community established amongst young people across different schools in the local area. HERE ME ran the project during the first week of the Easter school holidays, with a series of creative development workshops which included group discussions exploring ideas, drama-based activities, learning physical theatre skills with internationally recognised Melbourne performer Jonathan Sinatra, and checking out the public and hidden spaces of Belgrave. Dani-Ela and her posse of 10 took to the streets as a cohesive flash mob that inhabited the public spaces of Belgrave. “It was great, unbelievable. The weather came to town and it couldn’t have been any better,” said Dani. “It was just really joyful seeing people driving through Belgrave and at one point the lights turned green at the pedestrian crossing no one moved, no one honked … It was amazing.”
Here Me - Youth Arts Project – 11
Mountain Men
Mountain Men Board meeting at the Kellys
ameron Semmens (poet, educator and... man) interviews Michael C Colling (youth worker, mental health promotor, author of The Other Side of Blue and also... a man) about Mountain Men – a new community. Michael, what’s your aim with Mountain Men? And how long have you been going? In May 2018, I put up a post up on the wall of a public Facebook group for locals of the Dandenong Ranges. I was feeling tired, burnt out and a little isolated after leaving a high-stress job and after having our first child. I asked if there were any blokes on the mountain who felt the same and if anyone wanted to start a group. Within 48-hours, I had dozens of emails and messages from guys who felt the same, from women who said their husbands/partners were desperate for something like this, as well as offers of support to establish something from Rotary groups, RSL’s, CFA’s, churches, day-care centres and many others; it was quite overwhelming. So, I met with some of the blokes who made contact, established a board of directors, and we launched Mountain Men mid-year. We’ve spent six months getting ourselves established with registering 12 – Hillscene Autumn ‘19
ourselves as a charity, having a logo and website designed and in late 2018, received some funding from Yarra Ranges Council. This year, we’ve started rolling out a number of social activities for guys aged 18+ on the Dandenong Ranges to meet other blokes and build new mates, including a monthly board game night, a shared-work group (working bees on people’s properties), bare-foot bowls night, coffee mornings, Dads and Kids play mornings, and a series of seminars on issues men have expressed interest in discussing, including men’s health and wellbeing. Why do men need a social space just for themselves? Research tells us that men struggle to make meaningful friendships beyond high school years and whilst Men’s Shed was established to meet the needs of the older demographic,
it is men in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s who have reached out to Mountain Men the most. Men have identified that they have felt socially isolated for one reason or another and with work and family pressures, find it difficult to find the time to meet other blokes to establish meaningful friendships, especially if you’re not into sport and part of a local footy club. What are the unhelpful stereotypes that you have to work against in creating such a mens support group? Mountain Men acknowledge that there are many different types of masculinity and are accepting of all regardless of any perceived or actual point of difference between men. Men tell us that they don’t identify with the antiquated hyper-masculine stereotypes that are incredibly toxic and far from the reality of what most men are. Stereotypes of the Aussie bloke who gets into fights, disrespects women and gets pissed at the pub each weekend are a thing of the past and I would think we as a society have thankfully moved beyond this. What is unique to the Hills about this group? Mountain Men is a community group run by a committee of local volunteers. One thing I have noticed about living in the hills is that we are incredibly community-focused, more so than anywhere else I have lived in Melbourne and locals get behind initiatives such as this. There really wasn’t any other local social/support group for men to get involved in that offer such a diverse range of activities.
Michael and Rob with Cr Noel Cliff
Can you tell me a bit of your story, and how you came to care about working with men? I lived in a share-house in my early twenties whilst at University, and tragically, one of my housemates took his own life after not being able to find the right support from men’s groups. He was a young dad and this incident deeply affected me for a very long time. After that, I developed a young men’s program for boys in high schools where I saw tangible and meaningful outcomes as a result of the work we were doing. Many boys opened up about things they had never told anyone, purely because for the first time ever, they had a safe space to do so with people who cared about and validated the things they had gone through and provided them with the safety net they needed to start working through these things. Do you have a place to engage online as well as in person at events? Yes, we have a closed Facebook group made up of almost 200 local men. Many of these men are unable to attend our events or are still a little hesitant to in person just yet, but find great solace in just chatting online and engaging in any of the many discussions we have in this group. So, we are both making the most of the online space as well as meeting in person. How can men start to engage with Mountain Men? Jump on the website at www.mountainmen.org.au for all the latest information about upcoming events and activities to find out how guys can get involved. All
First Health and Well Being Seminar
Mountain Men – 13
t’s sunset at Belgrave Reserve. A dozen local boys and Ioval. girls gather in the gloaming at the side of the deserted Dressed in their red and blue CFA uniforms, each has an important part to play where both speed and accuracy are crucial. A boy sinks the hydrant, while a girl uncouples the hose to attach one end to the hydrant. The boy then connects the ‘branch’ (nozzle) to the free end of the hose. Punching his left fist up towards the darkening sky, he screams ‘Water on!’ at the top of his lungs. You have to yell really loudly to be heard over a fire. In quick response, the girl deftly turns the stiff handle on top of the fire hydrant until a powerful stream of water surges down the hose. The boy braces himself, tightening his grip as the hose convulses. Water rockets through the air to hit the ground 40 metres away, creating instant rivulets which quench the parched earth. Mission accomplished. He punches the air once again, this time horizontally from his left shoulder, and yells out ‘Water off!”. The girl reverses the handle until the water slows to a trickle, then stops. The kids take turns, practising in pairs until each becomes a well-oiled machine. They are practising for the CFA State Championships in late February, where junior fire brigades from across Victoria meet along the Murray to get to know one another and compete in fire drills. The real reason to practise such drills, of course, is because they may one day grow up to take their place alongside the adult volunteer firefighters of the CFA. Ten years ago, when the Upwey CFA Junior 14 – Hillscene Autumn ‘19
Brigade was returning home from the CFA State Championships, the captain’s beeper starting going beserk. The group arrived back in Upwey to find the Nixon Road fire in full blaze, exit roads choking as a mass evacuation swept the Hills and the CFA fire station a hive of action and fire engines. That event provided a bit of postChampionship excitement for the kids. But in the more sobering shadow of the 10 year anniversary of the Black Saturday bushfires, and in the furnace of the March bushfires currently scorching Victoria and Tasmania as this article is being written, it is both humbling and gratifying to know that small bands of local 11 to 15 year olds across the Hills are continuing to learn the rare, precious and life-saving skills of firefighting. The Upwey CFA recently proudly celebrated its 100th birthday. But the work of the Upwey Junior CFA is perhaps less well-known. Meeting on a Tuesday evening, the Junior Development
Upw Bravehea Junior Fire Fighters
wey’s arts in Action
– 15 Spring Poems
Program teaches life skills, fire understanding and safety, and community awareness through a mix of free social, recreational and educational activities. Think: pretending to be unconscious bodies in a fire-simulation rescue with adult firefighters; a site visit to Elvis the water-bombing helicopter at the Olinda helipad; first aid training; a site visit to the Tecoma Ambulance Station; all interspersed with fun activities such as Laser Tag, go karting and 10 pin bowling. The Junior CFA aims to develop teamwork, community, commitment, responsibility, respect and confidence. But it can probably be summed up in just one word, and that is ‘character’. Character is evident in the faces of these kids, in the way that they listen respectfully to their leaders, and in how they interact maturely with each other. At one meeting, the leader announces that it is time for the eldest boy, who is
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turning 16, to be promoted to the senior brigade. The boy nods his head slightly in acceptance, quietly proud and seeming older than his years, ready for the serious responsibilities ahead. Maybe through developing firefighting skills, these kids realise that there are some big problems to be faced in the real world which are not just someone else’s job and where they have to work together as a team to survive. These are lessons that will stand them in good stead throughout their lives. By helping these kids to become responsible and capable citizens, the CFA Junior Volunteer Development Program helps to grow just the sort of people our community needs. We can all learn from that. For more information, please email upwey_juniors@upweycfa.org.au
Cafe Tarts - Cooks Corner
Review by Tiffany Morris-North Cook’s Corner reopened in September last year. Sitting on the edge of the forest in an idyllic setting I think C. C. holds a soft spot in most locals hearts. We visited the country house style cafe on a sunny day and the large verandas and open, light-filled interior was very welcoming. Apart from the standard eggs/bacon and smashed avo there were a few interesting things on the menu. I do like my bacon and eggs but I also love a bit of creativity on a menu.. I chose the breakfast board which was a little taster of a few things in case you can’t decide!! I included a quinoa pudding, an orange juice, delicious zucchini and sweetcorn fritters with tomato relish, poached egg, avocado and smoked salmon. It was presented beautifully on a rustic wooden board, (as is the fashion) and I was not disappointed. My friend had avocado bruschetta. It came with a tomato, chilli, mint salsa on top and was on a slice of toasted pumpkin bread with poached eggs as an extra.
Coffees were good, plus they offer matcha and turmeric varieties, and the cakes in the front counter looked scrumptious. Overall I think the locals will be very happy with the new Cooks Corner and would be a welcome oasis for the forest walkers needing a reward for their efforts. Cook’s Corner - 2 Kallista-Emerald Rd, Kallista www.facebook.com/cookscornerkallista
Cafe Review Cooks Corner – 17
Seed of Life Farmers’ Market Words by Anna James
S
eed of Life Farmers’ Market launched on Saturday 23 February to enormous success. The warm, welcoming community event hosted a range of stalls, workshops and musicians. Tucked into the IFTI Community Hub — just next-door to Ferntree Gully station — this vibrant farmers’ market had it all. Alongside fresh tomatoes, peppers and eggs, the market offered artisan chocolate, smoked garlic and handmade sweets. Life Cykel offered gorgeous gourmet oyster mushrooms, and The Hungry Latin Buddha served up a delicious burrito. Face painting, an arts and craft table and the Playful Kids Yoga workshop gave the kids plenty to do. Tonyi the Worm educated kids and adults about wormfriendly foods, encouraging the use of worm towers to enrich our soil and reduce landfill. Health talks and yoga workshops were interspersed with music from DJ Sativa, Maxine Black, The Tasty Morsels, and Tombolo.
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With beautiful spaces to relax with family and friends, market goers caught up for a coffee, perusing alternative clothing, caricatures and recycled wood creations. Market director Tomas Cifuentes describes the vibe of the market as a “small, monthly festival.” “At the Seed of Life Farmers Market you have the chance to participate in different free workshops and talks for most of the day. We also have the Local Backyard Growers Co-op stall, where anyone can bring their excess food and sell or swap it with other community members. This encourages a network of local growers and connects them.” Community and environment groups were indeed well represented. Stalls included Edible Backyards, Ferntree Gully News and EPIC Seed Savers. EPIC Seed Savers provided information about their projects in the Dandenong Ranges, which aim to ensure food security for all.
The market aims to foster a community spirit that enables the sharing of skills and ideas, supports local ethical businesses, and promotes sustainable agriculture.
For more information about market dates and stallholders, visit market.ifti.net.atu or follow along at facebook.com/solfarmersmarket
“My partner Bella and I have been growing food organically for seven years in the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges. For all those years, we always have been concerned about food security and access. We find that there are a lot of ethical growers and permaculture enthusiasts in the area, but there is really no place to gather them all. We wanted to create a non-competitive space where all these growers and talented people can come together and support each other.” “There is so much abundance around the hills and foothills. Let’s claim it.” Tomas talked to me about the future of the market. “We hope to stay small, grounded and humble. Our challenge is to bring fresh energy to the market every month and keep our stallholders happy, especially those who bring locally grown food. ” Seeds of Life Farmers Market – 19
Space for Art Words by Adriana Alvarez
T
he five ways lookout in Kallorama is the meeting point of beauty and community, literally and metaphorically. There’s the lookout with breathtaking views of the valley. A cafe on the opposite corner and across from both is Kapi art space. A recently reopened gallery with a difference.
Kapi art space already seems different before you even walk inside. Outside is an artist working on one of his paintings. Inside it’s inviting rooms are filled with diverse artforms, a large front space, a small sitting room and a workshop space that has a group deep in conversation around a central table. A hall leads to a more private studio at the back where an art class is in progress and you can step outside to a beautiful enclosed garden with chairs and cushions a view over the valley. This is not your typical gallery with austere white walls and silent onlookers. Local artist Heather Bradbury is the manager and director of the gallery which has only been officially open as Kapi Art space for 3 months. She was attracted to this building when she moved here from Tasmania and became friends with the previous owner helping him set it up. “He had it for about three or four years. I just said to him if you ever want to sell just let
me know, and he said I’m ready so it just sort of all began,” says Heather. With a lot of experience doing festivals, big arts conferences and retreats in Australia and around the world, Heather wanted to use those skills to create a space that would encourage people to be creative. Kapi is a space to engage with art but also for artists to have a community and be seen. Here you can meet the artist, see works in progress, see the process and maybe even take home an original piece, rather than a cheap reproduction. There’s books for sale by artists, poets and writers. It’s about providing a complete experience, with workshops and classes as well as live events to get people in and encourage creativity, conversation and an exchange of ideas. “I love the idea of having all the arts here, digital art, 3D art, we’ve got painting and I also have Mardee Kaylock who is the creative director” says Heather. “She does the planning and the running of the performing arts program.” Mardee is a theatre director and a big picture thinker. Her past experience with promotion and events around Melbourne, means she has a lot of contacts. She’s organising the Summer Soiree series which are held in the garden outside in the Summer and Autumn adding live performance events to the space. “Soiree is a French word and it comes from the sense of a Bohemian gathering. Like a gathering of people in a lounge room or a gathering of people in a space to share poetry and to share music, and converse and to share…ideas. Philosophy, music and poetry.”
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All photos by Cathy Ronalds
The Soiree’s bring in people to enjoy a live performance by both established and emerging musicians, poets, writers or dancers. With wine and nibbles in an intimate group that afterwards leads to an exchange of dialogue, a chance to connect with like minded people and foster a creative community. Working as an artist can be an isolating experience, “both of us have found that as artists, in our practices and part of our response is why Kapi is not just a gallery. It’s called Kapi art space. It’s a space for artists and a space for community. A space for the soul. One of the things we wanted to do is [for artists] to be able to come and use the space even though they might not be exhibiting or performing,” says Mardee. The way the gallery works is by hiring wall space. A concept which has been done with other collectives around the hills and focuses on the the artists. The advantages are that you can set your price and sell your pieces for what they are worth. You can move your work around and Kali supports the artists with information on their website. They’re also working on including a video interview with the artists online. It’s a supportive model which encourages the artists to come and work in the space or hold workshops so that people get to know them, which can lead to people buying their work or commissions. There’s a downloadable information pack on the website with
all the prices and you can then apply online. “But if you don’t want to do that you can actually come in and show your art,” explains Heather. Artists commit to three months but pay monthly. The space is curated to ensure the works in the gallery, and the live events, are of a high quality. There are so many ideas bursting at the seams of this art space. For example Heather and Mardee run a program together called ‘Your heart, your voice’ about finding what lights you up. Where the modality isn’t important, what is important is the community and also a sense of listening to what brings life to a person. How to nurture your creativity and to think divergently to have a growth mindset. “It’s like ‘The Artists Way’ on steroids,” laughs Mardee. The passion to encourage others to lead creative lives is evident in the enthusiasm of these two artists, who are forging a space that is brining artists and their audience together in new and exciting ways. The five ways intersection seems like an appropriate location for a place like Kapi. It echoes the spirit of this ‘art space’ which is a junction for so many convergent ideas. Beauty, creativity and community have found a home that’s inviting you to come in to play and explore.
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