Belonging and the Transient Home
Exploring how socially engaged artistic practice can promote a sense of belonging in migrant groups.
Belonging and the Transient Home was a collaborative public art project developed by Dr Tammy Wong Hulbert and the Vicseg Persian Asylum Seekers Social Health Group. The project was presented at the Broadmeadows Street Festival on Sunday 3rd April, 2016, supported by the City of Hume. Taking the theme of 'belonging' in a society, the project looked at how new migrants belong in Australian society, where the idea of 'home' is challenged by becoming more temporary and transient, a result of increased mobility and transforming social, cultural, political and economic contexts of a globalising society. The project focused on embedding artistic processes into Vicseg's family group sessions, where the members workshopped an art project with public outcomes. The artist created a series of 'transient homes' made from suitcases, to imply that through mobility we take our idea of home with us, and thus belong where we arrive. The aim of the project was to give this group an opportunity to engage and participate locally and to promote a sense of belonging through artistic processes. Festival audiences experienced the project in two ways: 1) Exchange: Celebrating the Persian New Year - the group shared their hand crafted ceramic good luck charms in exchange for dialogue and 2) The Great Transient Homes Race: The wider community raced the 'transient homes', the race facilitated by the group.
Video for the project.
Key people
Dr Tammy Wong Hulbert.