From the Ground is an intercultural project supporting young people and communities across Yuin country on the South Coast of NSW to reconnect and reengage with culture and country following the Black Summer Bushfires and COVID-19. A creative workshop program delivered by local artists and cultural educators – it focuses on digital art-making honed through deep engagement with local language, story, song and dance. Through mentoring, young people in Nowra, Wallaga Lake and Eden create digital art, film, music and curated community events that celebrate their connection to place.
From the Ground is a Big hART project.
Bulla Midhong
Bulla Midhong is a 3-part series of on-country events showcasing original digital content and traditional story-telling. In each location, local high-school students have generated digital and performance content exploring cultural stories over the course of a 12-month workshop program. Hosted by the young people themselves, and interwoven with music, dance and projection, these events are a culmination of this body of work.
EDEN
Friday April 28, 6pm
Cocora Beach, Twofold Bay
The story of the humpback whale’s migration north, rediscovering the traditional place names of Twofold Bay.
Eden audiences were invited to Cocora Beach to be immersed in a contemporary story about the humpback whale’s migration north, rediscovering the traditional place names of Twofold Bay, under the gaze of Balawan mountain.
Wallaga Lake
Saturday May 13, 6pm
Umbarra Cultural Centre, Wallaga Lake
The Gulaga Mountain creation story, central to all Yuin people.
In Wallaga Lake, Bulla Midhong reactivated the cultural centre at Umbarra, at the footsteps of the sacred mountain Gulaga. This intimate event will go back in time to explore the story of the black duck Yuin Djiringang people who called Umbarra and Gulaga home.
NOWRA
Saturday May 20, 6pm
Paringa Park, Nowra
The story of the black cockatoo, from which Nowra gets its name.
Nowra audiences gathered at Paringa Park – the birthplace of the Black Cockatoo story of the local Yuin people and see it expressed in language, song, digital art and traditional dance, in the shadow of Cambewarra Mountain.