Indigenous Community Volunteers

Growing up in a major city and then being confronted with how Indigenous people in remote places lacked access to services took Jasmine Crea on a journey.

This involved screen printing with the Warruwi Community on Goulburn Island in the Northern Territory.

ICV’s project with the community is backed by the West Arnhem Shire Council and the Dutch Embassy. Support by the Netherlands was prompted by its link to the area dating back hundreds of years as Dutch explorers sailed through the region.

Developing the screen printing skills of the women, improved their self-esteem and also provided art for the local Mardbalk Arts & Craft Centre. These could then be sold, earning income for the participants.

Jasmine has a design background and has lived in Alice Springs and then later spent time with a Central Australian-based arts centre.

“I became interested in gaining insight into art practices and traditions in the Top End. I was fascinated with the vastly different aesthetic and materials used in the respective geographic regions of the NT,” she explained.

The ICV project provided Jasmine with an opportunity to pass her skills to the community.

“It enables communities to access specialist skills and knowledge, without a massive financial output,” she said.

A death on nearby Croker Island meant some of the plans had to be changed while the funeral (sorry business) was conducted as a number of the participating artists travelled to the ceremony.

This happened two days prior to Jasmine’s arrival but arts centre coordinator Belinda Carlson says Jasmine was still able to get things underway when she landed.

“Jasmine spent this week settling into the community and preparing the necessary equipment required for the workshops. Jasmine was also able to start talking with some of the ladies who were present about the designs they wished to create,” explained Belinda.

Jasmine worked one-on-one with the women helping them transfer their designs onto the screens, applying the emulsions and preparing fabrics, shirts and bags for printing. Typical of ICV’s community-based projects.

It wasn’t all one way when it came to learning. This is typical of ICV’s community-based projects. On several occasions Jasmine headed out to the bush with the women as they searched amongst the native fauna that would be used later in the art work.

“One of the more interesting aspects was going out to the Billabong and collecting some roots and leaves. These They were then boiled and depending on how long this was done, different coloured dyes would be made and then. These were used for woven artworks such as baskets, dilly bags and other sculptural pieces.” Jasmine explained.