| | | | | NEWSLETTER - December 2023 |
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Greetings and salutations from the Desert Pea Media Team,
It’s been an incredible year for DPM in 2023. We’ve been busy delivering a new, unique project series in Bourke and Moree called ‘The Crossroads Project’ (funded by NSW Govt - Dept of Regional NSW, Office for Regional Youth). What a journey!
We’re back in the office winding down for the Xmas break, and we thought we’d share some of the incredible outcomes and social impacts of DPM’s work this year. |
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The CROSSROADS Project was an innovative community engagement program designed by Desert Pea Media (DPM) and co-produced by local Indigenous organisations and services in Bourke and Moree NSW. The project focus is on Identity and Wellbeing through Culture and Creativity - with a focus on community engagement, especially with Indigenous young people (16-25) and their families.
The DPM process empowers Indigenous communities through impactful workshops and creative media productions. CROSSROADS is a new iteration of DPM’s work – focusing on more long-term, foundation-building engagement, where participants are led through a process of cultural education, leadership and training, mentoring, inter-community cultural exchange and skills development.
Key impact objectives of the project include: Community & Cultural Connection: Creating culturally safe spaces for important inter-generational cultural education and sharing. Cultural Education promotes connection, pride, belonging, identity, self-esteem, confidence, resilience, and agency. Cultural Celebration: A well-coordinated and community-led Community Celebration Event with high-end creative outcomes (multimedia/ theatre production/ devising celebration) to celebrate community achievements, create space for healing, and showcasing Country, Culture, and Community. Cultural Archiving: Mentoring and training young Indigenous people to be media-literate and equipping them with the resources to create cultural content, archive stories, film, edit, record sound and produce media outcomes. These community-led outcomes will document and archive cultural knowledge and become the foundation for community-led cultural education processes. Meaningful Media: CROSSROADS is also an opportunity for Indigenous people to lead solution-focused discussions and media creation about critical cultural and social issues in their communities. Media and performance outcomes become powerful ‘peer-to-peer messaging’ which can be used by various services and programs into the future. Many DPM songs have been picked up by national broadcasters such as Triple J and film outcomes are used by schools, Universities, galleries, and museums as examples of powerful community stories. The first element of The CROSSROADS Project was a series of songs/ films created as outcomes of the first project series earlier this year: |
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| The second element of the project introduces training and skills development for a group of young Moree leaders and storytellers. The third element is a culture camp with young people from Moree and Bourke. The outcomes of these projects are Elders’ stories and community yarns – directed, produced, and created by local young people: |
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| The broader CROSSROADS Project culminated in large-scale cultural event, which attracted huge numbers in Moree (approx. 800 people) and in Bourke (approx. 400 people). |
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CROSSROADS generated films and media outcomes that schools and organisations can use as Educational Resources, exploring Aboriginal Education, Arts Practice, Contemporary Storytelling and Digital Media for cultural and community development.
A huge thank you to the traditional owners, participants, community members, Elders, services, and organisations that supported The Crossroads Project this year. We’re receiving incredible feedback from the community, and we’re excited about the possibilities in 2024.
Big thanks to Office of Regional Youth (Dept of Regional NSW) for their funding through "Our Region, Our Voice".
Massive Thanks to our community partners:
Moree: Just Reinvest, Miyay Birray Youth Service, Miihi Arts Foundation, Arts North West, Moree Plains Shire Council
Bourke: Maragnuka and the Bourke Tribal Council, Bourke High School, St. Ignatius, 2Cuz FM.
We’re also pumped to partner with a range of brands and businesses, to help us develop a new generation of young, grassroots, community-led, Indigenous storytellers. Big thanks to- RØDE Microphones Technical Audio Group , Canon Australia SUNSTUDIOS Zoom Australia Focusrite |
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Straight outta the community of Broken Hill, in Far West NSW (Wilyakali Country), ‘The Hill’ is a collective of young people, Elders and community members (supported by Desert Pea Media) who recently released their captivating debut single ‘Butterfly,’ exploring some hard-hitting realities of life as Indigenous young people in Far West NSW. Produced by South Coast- based producer ‘PEVCE’ aka Daniel Glossop. The project was delivered in partnership with Making Tracks Far NW.
The Hill – ‘Butterfly’ evolved from a 1-week Desert Pea Media project in partnership with a local Community Organisation ‘Making Tracks’ back in June 2023. The Hill is a collective of Indigenous community members, young people, and local Elders - supported by Desert Pea Media staff including Bundjalung rapper NARLI and Barkindji songwriter LAWLESS (B-Town Warriors).
‘Butterfly is the debut single from this exciting truth-telling project from Desert Pea Media, who have been working in Broken Hill with young people for over 20 years. It’s an emotive, melodic trap banger that articulates a very brave and inspiring conversation about the hard realities of growing up and living in Far West NSW. The song explores the impact of trauma and grief on the nervous system, and points towards positive pathways of connection to country and cultural identity.
A huge thanks to the Wilyakali TO’s, the good people at Making Tracks in Broken Hill and all the participants and community members that made the project possible. |
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| There has never been a more valuable time to support the work of NFP’s and charity organisations in Australia. Our new website offers a new, and exciting way for the DPM fam to contribute to our work with Original Nations young people in an authentic and impactful way. ‘DPM Connect’ is a new network for supporters and collaborators to directly uplift Desert Pea Media’s work. For Individuals: A monthly donation campaign is a new opportunity to become part of the DPM Connect network, and receive exclusive updates, PR and marketing resources, and exclusive pre-release screenings of our media and music outcomes. For Businesses: A one-off or monthly donation campaign is a new opportunity to become part of the DPM Connect network, and receive exclusive updates, PR and marketing resources, and exclusive pre-release screenings of our media and music outcomes. This is a new way to connect directly with DPM and support the projects in communities we work with. All donations are 100% tax deductible and go directly to creating opportunities for Original Nations young people to connect with community, culture, country, and creativity. |
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| The DPM Team are winding up for a well-earned break this week. It’s been a very special year, and we’re very grateful to all the TO’s, community members, families, and incredible young people that we have had the pleasure of working with in 2023. A huge thank you to all our project partners, sponsors, and supporters for making DPM’s important work possible this year. 2024 is shaping up to be another exciting year – if your community or organisation is considering working with DPM next year – get in touch ASAP and we can work together to make some magic happen. Big love! |
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