Margaret Taylor and Jean Deas (right to left) in Margaret's home, Sadleir.
Photo by Therese Sweeney
Given the significance of this event, we thought it a great opportunity to reflect on this partnership with Therese which started way back in 2000 when she was awarded one of the Shopfront’s first community fellowships to work on a project in the suburb of Miller in Sydney’s south west.
The fellowship was developed based on earlier research with young women from Miller who hadn’t seen themselves represented in a positive way in existing media and expressed a desire to develop their own images through creation of ‘things’ such as magazines, photography, film and theatre.
Prior to the fellowship, Therese had been documenting and photographing the people and places of Green Valley, producing great film and images utilising a strong collaborative engagement process.
Through the fellowship Therese developed an introductory video and photography course for young women. It was called ‘Valley Birds Film Crew’ and Miller Technology High School was used as a base. The ‘crew’ were trained in video and photographic production, and – in addition to three short films – they developed a series of photographs that were exhibited locally. The film After the Bell tells the story of three senior girls involved in a reading program for younger students; it went on to win the Penrith Valley under 18 film festival. Another of the films New Girl took out third place in the National Youth Week Film Festival competition.
Argentine Drum Group in traditional dress in a front yard, Heckenberg.
Photo by Therese Sweeney.
Following on from the fellowship Shopfront worked closely with Therese to establish Memory Bank Cultural Media. Through Memory Bank Therese further developed the collection featured in the On the Fringes archive.
Therese has and continues to engage with pioneering residents from south-west Sydney down to the Illawarra region and beyond. Her focus is on communities that are under-represented in cultural archives. This archival collection recognises the cultural value of her work and preserves it for future generations.
Photos courtesy of Therese Sweeney.
The On The Fringes archive can be viewed at sweeney.lib.uts.edu.au.