Ararat Regional Art Gallery celebrated Children’s Week on Tuesday 25 October 2011 with a community art event leading to the creation of ‘The Big Basket’. Around 100 school children from Ararat, Stawell and the wider regional community participated in a one-day workshop led by basket maker, Cherree Densley, and held at Alexandra Hall, Ararat.
The theme of the project, ‘We’re all in the same basket’, aimed to maximise participation and encourage cooperation amongst children across a range of ages and abilities. The outcome of this intensive day of creativity was the creation of a one and a half square metre woven basket constructed from hay and wool and surrounded by a multitude of grass dolls. The dolls were individually created by participating children and placed around the basket to reflect the theme of community unity.
Now completed, ‘The Big Basket’ will tour to participating and host schools that will have the opportunity to create more dolls, ultimately representing hundreds of children from the community. The basket is presently on display at the Skene Street School in Stawell and will visit other schools in the region in the coming months. Following its tour, the basket will be exhibited at the Ararat Regional Art Gallery in February 2012 as part of a program to complement the 30th anniversary presentation of `Floating Forest’ - a basketry-based installation by the late American artist, Douglas Fuchs. Ararat Regional Art Gallery's Children's Week event was presented in partnership with the Victorian Government's Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
Ararat-based artist Jade Kahle was approached earlier this year with the idea of introducing textile craft skills to children leading to an installation outcome in response to the 2010 Children’s Week theme, ‘A Caring World Shares’. The project has been funded through a Children's Week grant from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. This resulting installation ‘Many Become One’ is the culmination of the collaboration between Jade and the participating children. The exhibition was launched by Ararat Rural City Councillor Anne Marshall last Tuesday afternoon, 3 November.
Jade’s concept for ‘Many Become One’ focuses on forms from nature, such as beehives, bird nests and wasp daubs. A half-seen and imagined world of bee and bird is evoked through crochet, knitting and stitch-work, with honeycomb motifs symbolising unity, building and co-operation. Each workshop led to the creation of the various textile pieces that feature in the installation that was designed and constructed by Jade. The individual elements were made by primary school students from Ararat West, Ararat North, Landsborough, Moyston, Willaura, St Mary’s in Ararat and Skene Street in Stawell. Children from the monthly Embroiderers Guild Needles and Pins children’s textile group also contributed to the installation. The installation is presented until 5 December 2010.
Jade Kahle is an artist and designer who has been working with her zooblast label since 2004. For more information visit the zooblast webpage.
