Can art change the world? Helen Wright, Claire Wall, Mary van den Berk

A panel of artists who have been part of Creative Conversations held at Annandale Creative Arts Centre as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival joined us for our August PEACEtalks and explored "Can art change the world?" Speakers Helen Wright is a Pastor at Newtown Mission and oversees Annandale Creative Arts Centre. She is the Artistic Director of Creative Conversations, a project inviting artists to create new work engaging with justice. With a background in dance and collaborative performance making, Helen is currently writing music for community contexts to bring about transformation. Claire Wall is an actor and theatre-maker. She is passionate about creating theatre that gives voice to community and challenges dominant social narratives. Her recent production “Homesick” explored connection to place through the lens of the Armidale community, and recentred Indigenous story and knowledge. Mary van den Berk is a visual artist who comes from a background of social work, research and art teaching. 2019 will be Mary’s second time participating in Creative Conversations, following her first contribution in 2014 for the Creative Conversations with Asylum Seekers. For this year’s Creative Conversations with Land, Mary is using needlepoint and sampler quilt craft to represent white colonial women present and how history wrongly attached the hunter-gatherer label to Aboriginal peoples. With Brooke Prentis, PEACEtalks Director, Wakka Wakka woman, Aboriginal Christian Leader, Aboriginal Spokesperson for Common Grace, and Coordinator of the The Grasstree Gathering. This event is part of PEACEtalks: a monthly event (held on a Thursday or Saturday evening) hosted by Paddington Anglican Church aimed at serving the community by promoting and cultivating deep conversations about life, the world and everything. ‘PEACE’ stands for ‘political, ethical, artistic & cultural engagement’.