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Stories from near and far

By Alex Prado, CMY
 
Photo of Alex Prado MELBOURNE - Stories from Near and Far - is a community arts project that engaged young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds living in the City of Moonee Valley to explore and relate folktales, legends and cultural narratives from their countries of origin.                
 
The Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) received funding from Arts Victoria and the School Focused Youth Services Melbourne / Moonee Valley to produce seven short stories written and told by young people. The project facilitated workshops with 30 young people, in partnership with AMES, St Aloysius College and Debney Park Secondary College.
 
CMY employed an artist in residence, a sound designer, musician, as well as a number of young artists to create illustrations for the traditional digital stories. As a result of this collaboration between artists and project participants this culturally rich DVD has been produced.
 
The Stories from Near and Far project has provided a forum for participants to showcase their storytelling talent to their communities and families as well as to the broader community.
 
It is an opportunity for communities to celebrate the richness of their cultural heritage through spoken word and to promote more understanding and appreciation of newly arrived communities and their cultures.
 
This innovative project enhances cross cultural understanding and promotes social cohesion in one of the most culturally diverse regions of Australia.