STARTTS & Jiva Parthipan: The River Project
Multicultural rights | Cultural curation | Placemaking | Connection
When artist and curator Jiva Parthipan was exploring sites of flowing water for the immersion of ashes of a family member as per Hindu tradition, he began researching the Georges River.
Parthipan was struck by its many histories - from its significance for traditional owners to local refugee communities – and began exploring the potential of a Community Arts and Cultural Development project.
The resulting work, ‘The River Project’, in collaboration with NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS), is grounded in contemporary arts practice, and serves as a platform for engagement with Dharug, Mandaean, Hindu, and Anglo-Australian artists and communities.
Stemming from its CACD approach, the project included community consultation, participation, relationship building and creative project co-development, exploring the rich traditions of place-making along the Georges River in Casula NSW.
Creating opportunities for cross-cultural understanding, empathy and connection is important for battling racism, exclusion, and prejudice.
- 7 in 10 Australians agree that cultural and creative experiences help them to understand perspectives different to their own, which supports the arts as an effective tool for bridging understanding and connection with others.
- While CALD Australians are highly engaged in the arts, they often face the most barriers, and are the least likely to be involved in accessing resources and partaking in arts and culture decision-making, according to Creative Australia's report Towards Equity.
- First Nations and CALD respondents are more likely to say ‘cultural and creative experiences are not really for people like me’, and so improving access to arts experiences through CACD presents an opportunity to focus on these groups.
"Cultural practices, sites, and expressions are enablers conducive to social inclusion. Access to and participation in cultural life have long been appreciated as crucial elements in enhancing wellbeing and creating a sense of belonging and shared identity."
Multicultural collaboration facilitated through curatorial practice is a powerful tool for building cross-cultural connections and understanding
- Established in 1988, arts@STARTTS is the arts and cultural wing of the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS). arts@STARTTS develops, produces, curates and enables arts practice with refugee communities and artists in partnership with mainstream venues and organisations in Australia.
- The Georges River was the starting point to work with four community groups (First Nations, Mandeans, Hindu, and Anglo Australians) over two years, and led creatives to produce an immersive and profound cross-cultural exploration of connection to land, place and faith.
- Through a curatorial premise of exploring living cultures engaging with the Georges River in Western Sydney, cultural groups were brought together to share and explore their commonalities.
"Too often refugees are told to re-enact their refugee narratives in their art. Whilst this is also important, I believe as future Australians their cultural practices need to be explored in a nuanced manner with all other communities to redefine Australia and locate them in the centre of arts practice within Australian cultural landscape.”
The artistic outcomes of The River Project included new collaborations and inclusion in the Biennale of Sydney’s programming.
- The River Project's final work was an immersive experience along the Georges River at Casula, which featured performances, videos, installations, soundscapes, water events, and various cross-cultural encounters.
- The unique event was presented over two days during the prestigious Biennale of Sydney in 2022 after three years in development.
- The creative outcomes of the project were profound for audiences, artists and community members alike, experienced through thoughtful facilitation of cross-cultural exchange.
“The ceremony of the Riverwalk was closed by the Jannawi Clan Dancers who left us sitting in awed silence, each one of us too afraid to be the first to break the spell. I felt on that day, much like the walk, I had come full circle – back to the river and the land on which I started my life in Australia.”
74%
of attendees reported The River Project increased their understanding of other communities or social groups and their practices.
96%
of attendees said their level of satisfaction with The River Project activities was 'Excellent'.
91%
of community members involved in The River Project reported having increased positive contact with other members of their own community.
The River Project was an exceptional showcase of CACD practice through curatorial collaboration and successful community development
- Successful community development over three years of building relationships and project development in the Casula region across four cultural groups was achieved through the expert facilitation of Jiva Parthipan and Sally Sussman.
- 9 in 10 community members involved in the project reported an increase in positive contact with other members within their local community.
- 74% of The River Project attendees shared that the experience had increased their understanding of other communities or social groups, as well as their artistic practices.
“Overall I loved it. The fusion of spiritual and cultural aspects was a delight.”
"I think what [The River Project] does is that it brings audiences, brings crews together that normally wouldn’t be brought together. The water skiers wouldn’t be normally working with the dancers…in the same project.”
Jiva Parthipan
Concept/Curation/Co-Direction
Jiva Parthipan is a curator, director and artist based in Dharug country, Sydney and working internationally.
Jiva’s multidisciplinary performance works have been seen at Tate Modern; ICA London; International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts (IETM), Paris/Dublin; National Review of Live Arts, Glasgow (NRLA); Performance Space, Sydney; and Bone Festival Switzerland, to name a few.
In Australia, his credits as creative producer include Handfed, MCA; Little Baghdad with Powerhouse Youth Theatre and the Australian Museum; Dance Africa Dance, Riverside and Parramatta and Older Than Language as co-curator for Salamanca Arts, Hobart.
As cultural development officer at STARTTS in Western Sydney, Jiva‘s work mediates artists from diverse emerging communities.
Jiva has a Masters in Performance (Distinction) from Goldsmiths College, University of London.
Sally Sussman
Co-Direction/Creative Production
Director, dramaturge, theatre-maker and creative producer Sally Sussman has been making intercultural performance work for over 30 years and is Artistic Director of Australian Performance Exchange, which creates multimedia performances responding to current and historic concerns of social justice, diplomacy, the climate emergency and the politics of representation.
She trained as a performer for three years in traditional Chinese theatre and directed her first works in Mandarin at The Central Academy of Drama, Beijing and the Shanghai Conservatorium of Music.
Community Cultural Development (CCD) at STARTTS
Community Cultural Development (CCD) at STARTTS is dedicated to fostering cultural enrichment, production, training, and arts accessibility for community groups, professional artists, and youth from refugee backgrounds in New South Wales.
With 35 years of experience, STARTTS has assisted over 90,000 people from 179 countries of origin.
STARTTS proactively initiates projects tailored to addressing the specific needs of diverse refugee communities, which may encompass mental health challenges among other concerns. From art and music to cooking, dance, writing, storytelling, fashion, and beyond, Community Cultural Development encompasses a wide array of creative expressions.
Lead artists
- Dharug Elder/Artist Julie Bukari (Webb)
- Jannawi Dance Clan and Peta Strachan
- Jeremy Marika
- Samskriti Dance and Hamsa Venkat
- Narmata Pulapaka
- Venkhatesh Sritharan
- Yuhana Nashmi and Rooan Al Kamashi
- Afnan Amoor with the Mandaean community
- NSW Barefoot Water Ski club
- Rob Dixon – a Georges Riverkeeper.
- The Dharug component of The River Project was first developed with artists Venessa Possum (Starzynski) and Corina Norman.
Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with support from the Creative and Create NSW, Crown Resorts Foundation and Packer Family Foundation.
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Acknowledgements
This resource is dedicated to CACD practitioners everywhere, working to address disadvantage and bring Australians together.
It has been created by research agency Patternmakers, with assistance from the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
Thank you to the practitioners who participated in the creation of this resource and to the many partners involved in each of the projects profiled. For any questions, please contact info@thepatternmakers.com.au.
We respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners of the land: the first artists and storytellers. We recognise the contribution of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, past, present and future.
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