Dreaming our seedbed for the future- Centring art and storytelling in social change.

Event Overview

Art and storytelling in all its forms isn’t nice to have, but a necessity to inspire, teach and guide a collective future for all of us. Engaging in art and storytelling needs to be the place we start the vision setting, the purpose and the path forward, it is the place where relationships, roles and representation begins to emerge.

It’s a radical act to go up against the power and systems of the western, settler driven way and push for indigenous ways of working to be leading us forward, however it is a critical and necessary act if we want to create a life sustaining world for all beings. 

Join Amunda and Anna as they explore our role in tending to our collective seedbed, to ensure we are growing a healthy, diverse and vibrant life sustaining future for all beings. A seedbed where art in all its forms is held as a way to shape and guide human services, community care and engagement and social and ecological change.

What we will cover:

• The challenges of current approaches to social change, community engagement and organisational approaches and what is required to reimagine a seedbed for our future. 
• How art in any form acts as an anchor and north star for the future including being used as a tool for strategic thinking and policy making. Art can hold us accountable to where we are heading  and how we get there, acting as a lighthouse from the push and pull of seeking funding and making big decisions. 
• How to shift from a human services culture of ‘doing to’ to ‘doing with’ each other through embodied experiences. 
• Ways in which you can start the conversation within your organisation and community to move toward centring art and story over buzz words and lengthy documents. 
• The power of deep time and its role in expanding ourselves and our work to include the spirit, guidance and gifts of our ancestors and the future custodians of our earth in generations to come. 
• The limitations of settler driven social change approaches including consultation models, community engagement approaches, grant funding processes and the damaging impact of the buzzword culture.

The Story Behind our Event:

 Amunda and Anna met in 2019, when Anna and her team of magic makers were crafting Australia's first ever ten year National Action Plan for  Early Childhood disability.

Anna was ignited by Amunda's belief of the power of art in holding story and vision when involved in  social change actions and community engagement. 

Through hearing the stories being told about the experiences of exclusion and judgment of children with disability and their families, Amunda visioned the story of our future into a painting of what the next ten years should be in Australia. Anna and her team centered this visual story from the get-go and began translating the painting into words to form the action plan to deliver to the Commonwealth Government. 

This approach was a radical act, one which challenged the typical colonising approach of  privileging english language first which typically uses art an after a plan or strategy has been set in stone, which can often feel tokenistic or decorative. Anna and Amunda believe that this approach often excludes people from the story from the very beginning which in turn excludes them from the future. As a result we are struggling with a human services sector that continues to ‘do things to’ people rather than ‘do things with’ people. 

Since meeting Anna and Amunda have been continuing the conversation with organisations who are keen to embody a new way of being in relationship with the communities they work with and transforming the ways in which they communicate both externally and internally.

The bold act of placing art, storytelling and spirit at the front and centre of social policy in Australia has got Amunda and Anna curious about what is possible as we move forward. 

Who should join us:

• Anyone with a keen interest or currently working in social change, community engagement and activism. 
• Policy makers, strategic planners, not for profit leadership and board members interested in more inclusive ways of planning and engaging. 
• Artists, dreamers & embodied facilitators who are currently or interested in ways to bring their work into organisations involved in social change. 

About us:

Amunda Gorey is an Arrernte artist who grew up in the remote community of Santa Teresa, an hour south/East of Alice Springs. Amunda is an artist, experienced community health researcher and is a specialist in facilitating First Nations/Western relationships.

Growing up without all the technology that we have now, Amunda spent most days playing outside , going out on bush trips with the family or her mum usually kept the kids busy with art supplies. Taking up painting As more than just a hobby, Amunda has now been painting for the last 18 years with work commissioned by the various not-for-profits and businesses.

Amunda has worked on a number of research projects, working with First Nations communities across the Northern Territory, undertaking and supporting research. In all her roles, Amunda has worked as a liaison between Western and First Nations organisations, ensuring community voices are upheld and respected.

Anna McCracken is a Human Rights Advocate, Social Strategist, solo nature adventurer, poet and all round heart-fire human.  Anna is one of Australia's leading Disability Justice advocates. With a degree in Social Work and a Masters in Human Rights Law, Anna's approach to social strategy is focused on holding strong relationships on the ground and acting as a conduit for story and experiencing to all levels of Government. 

Anna has been traveling the width and length of the country in her 4WD for the last few years, in conversation and deep listening with individuals, families and communities. In 2019 Anna in partnership with Reimagine Australia crafted Australia's first National Action Plan for  Early Childhood disability,. 

It is in this time she met Amunda and was profoundly reshaped by the power and necessity of art as a tool for change, as a keeper of spirit and a meeting place where everyone can be in the conversation about our future. She weaves her powerful humanising advocacy with trauma-informed education, nature wisdom, and a good dose of wild woman magic.