Creative Resilience Project update with Janet Bromley

Queen Victoria Women’s Centre has commissioned a public artwork created by Ngardang Girri Kalat Mimini (NGKM), a collective of First Nations women and trans diverse artists from across Victoria. The artwork will commemorate and celebrate stories of Aboriginal women artists from South-Eastern Australia.

The commission, entitled Creative Resilience, has been funded through the Victorian Women’s Public Art program (VWPA) with Regional Arts Victoria. The VWPA supports the development of permanent public art to examine the significant and diverse contributions women have made to Victoria and to share those stories with the broader community.

The Queen Victoria Women's Centre will unveil the work as part of YIRRAMBOI Festival in early May, we chatted with Janet Bromley from the collective to see how the project is going.

QVWC: Tell us where the project is at?

Janet: The project is well under way the sculpture is almost together.  The other details of placement in the space are being sorted out now. 

Can you give us a bit of context around the work and the meaning behind it?

As a group of First Nations artists we realised that we could not depict one woman.  Victorian First Nations Families are all connected.   We decided on a symbol that represents all our women, past, present and future. 

Conversations around the choice of image were around: protecting culture, strength, resilient, adaptable, family, nurture, displacement, separation, culturally safe spaces and showing that our women are still here holding culture safe while the share with family and community.  

What can we expect to see and experience when the work is revealed?

Before you, you will see a symbol of strength, rising out of the ground, a symbol that all First Nations women can relate to.  A proud symbol saying we are still here.

You will go ‘oh wow I can feel that passion and strength of this sculpture.

You will recognise who the sculpture represents.

How has the experience been so far working the group of artists on the project?   

It has not been an easy journey; we have had very important family members pass while we have been involved with this project.  In some ways it has made the project stronger, in others sadness they are not here to see what we have created.

COVID has impacted quite heavily.  As artists we work better in the presence of each other, zoom is not the same.  However, we have used zoom and facetime for our conversation and have mastered that I think. 

There will be many lessons learned. 

·  I for one will not hesitate to put forward an idea for a large installation as I know how to reach out for makers and builders to support any project I choose to undertake in the future.

·   When working with a group of women it is better if you take time and allow everyone to take their time to get their ideas out. Rushing creates division and misunderstandings. Leadership is important and needs to know and understand the individual and bring everyone on the journey.

·   Although we chose a design from one of us we all nurtured it to the end result and it is better for the impact of the group. 

·   We are looking forward to it being in place.

Interview by Natalie Forde

Photo credit details: Ngardang Girri Kalat Mimini (NGKM): Creative Resilience Artists Front row sitting L-R: Glenda Nicholls and Georgia McGuire Back row sitting L-R: Lorraine Brigdale, Trina Oojes-Dalton, Janet Bromley & Annie Brigdale Photograph supplied by The Queen Victoria's Women's Centre