Celebrating Canberra’s diverse cultural communities, the Intercultural Craft Circle is an opportunity to reconnect through making and storytelling in Haig Park.

You are invited to slow down and unwind with a number of creative activities on offer including a variety of stitching activities, printmaking, clay modelling, storytelling and drawing. Bring a picnic and enjoy a beautiful spring morning in the Park – stay for the full three hours or drop in to one activity of your choice.

All activities are free and all materials are provided, no experience required.

Activities include:

Slow Stitching with Kiran Grewel from Kiran Designs: Choose between a more structured approach with templates provided or a contemplative and free form approach where the thread does the walking on the fabric as the needle moves in and out of the fabric, changing direction, weight and length.

Nee: Born As: A collaborative art making project exploring the cultural practices of naming with facilitator Elly Kent. You are invited to listen to and share stories about names that have been lost, changed, discarded or adopted and to stitch the name onto a piece of fabric which will be added to the patchwork wall hanging.

Belonging- Storytelling and Drawing: Join the Migrant Women’s Art Group, and explore our stories of belonging together. You’ll take part in a series of drawing exercises focussed around a personal object that reminds you of an important part of your life’s journey. Participants are invited to bring along an object that they contains memory or cultural / personal meaning. Share the story behind your object and hear from others about the stories that shaped their lives.

Zora Pang and Sydney Farey: Dumplings carry a rich significance within Chinese culture that dates back to ancient China, 1,800 years ago. The rhythmic acts of rolling, folding and pinching the dumplings hundreds of times over with family and friends is deeply ingrained in our culture and is often seen as a remedial and healing process. Ceramic Dumpling Kitchen workshop will invite participants to fold dumplings using clay, and decorate small vinegar containers which are used to dip dumplings in. The workshop activity is developed through part of the Wǒ-in-process (Wǒ[我]:, I, me) art project supported by Tuggeranong Arts Centre and Cahoots 2020.

*** UPDATE***
Connection to Country: Unfortunately Shaenice Allen, Ngunnawal Artist and Cultural Educator and Nicola Lambert, Community Artist and Sullivan’s Trail Creative Director are no longer able to present this activity on the day but keep an eye out for updates on a separate workshop at a later date.

Haig Park programming is presented by City Renewal Authority and supported by University of Canberra.