A special sanctuary in the city during Carers Week & Seniors Week

An arts project in Southbank will provide an intimate space for Melburnians to slow down and reflect during Carers Week.

Commissioned by the City of Melbourne, artist Jodee Mundy collaborated with twenty primary carers and a team of artists to produce The Carers Project: A Sanctuary in the City. The carers stories, derived through a series of workshops, daily diary entries, drawings, film making, sound recordings and conversations, inform an immersive art installation.

The work invites audiences to enter a bespoke dome on the Southbank Spillway and watch a three-minute film that casts a gaze to the streets of Melbourne, reflecting on what it means to care for ourselves and others.

Chair of Arts Councillor Rohan Leppert said this work is an insightful look at the work of carers in the community.

“The city is a busy place and we often forget to slow down and take notice of ourselves and the people around us, this project encourages us to do just this,” Cr Leppert said.

“Art has a powerful way of conveying messages and stories that are often overlooked. The City of Melbourne is committed to working with artists to explore and share stories, especially those from underrepresented communities.”

Artistic Director Jodee Mundy grew up as a young carer.

“Everyone in my immediate family is deaf except for me so I grew up caring for the communication and access needs of my family. When I was young, there was little support or understanding from the wider community and this experience has given me an innate ability to collaborate with marginalised communities through my art.” Jodee said.

The role of a primary carer is sometimes underplayed in our society, but the enormity of this role and the effort expended by individual carers benefits the whole community. Often unpaid, carers are the primary providers of transport, personal care, meals, cleaning services and a myriad of other tasks to the person they assist. This work aims to offer a connection to the wider community by seeking out gaps and filling them with metaphors raising awareness and empathy.

“The Carers Project offered the participants a place to reflect, a chance to be creative, to reimagine, to share their story with a wider audience,” Jodee said.

The City of Melbourne recognises the vital role played by carers and the service they provide, not just to the person they assist, but by extension to the wider community. This projects aims to encourage and help the wider community understand the experiences of carers.

The Carers Project; A Sanctuary in the City
6 to 16 October, midday to 8pm
Southbank Spillway (south side of the Yarra River)
For more information call 9658 9658

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Jodee Mundy Collaborations is an independent creative producing company formed in 2012, in response to the multiple collaborations and partnerships established and continuing to develop with artists, diverse communities, organisations and funders. Artistic Director Jodee Mundy is committed to producing high quality theatre works, public events, installations and artistic interventions, bringing together diverse cross sections of the community who may not regularly encounter one another. Her artistic aim is for audiences to witness works that challenge and inspire them to acknowledge: the value of live performance and communities and the ability of the art to redefine and skew the notions of inclusiveness. Her work ultimately points to a future ‘beyond inclusion’, where diversity is inherently valuable to the art. Rather than a point of difference, it is considered a point of commonality. Everyone in her family is Deaf except her. Auslan is her first language. Major works include: Imagined Touch, The Deafblind Live Art Project to premiere at Arts House in 2016 and the development of ‘Personal’: a solo performance by Jodee Mundy exploring the relationship of society and disability through the eyes of a child. www.jodeemundy.com