"BYO" (Bring Your Own)
A video documentary of, by and for women
Between Friday 25 January 2008 and Sunday 27 January 2008, 11 women participated in a 3-day workshop in Seymour, regional Victoria. They brought various diversity – cultural (Chilean, Malaysian, Filipino, Afghani, South African, Iraqi, Sudanese, Turkish and Anglo-Saxon Australian), linguistic and religious, to the 'kitchen’.
They cooked their favourite recipes, brought their own ingredients and cooking pots, told stories of love, harmony, conflict and family around food, and came up with 'recipes' to solve some of the ‘conflicts’ they experience as women. They sang songs about food, community, life, struggles and country.
The workshop was facilitated by artist/director Catherine Simmonds, who effectively used creative drama to move the women into a re-enactment of their experiences. As expected, drama is a powerful medium for a group of women, especially when they are from non-English speaking backgrounds, as it allows all of the women to share and speak to each other without having to worry about whether they speak good English or not.
The short documentary by Riza Manalo, is a 26 minute condensed version of the main themes from the weekend.
The "BYO" documentary video was launched at VIRWC International Women's Day Out , March 1, 2008 at ACMI Federation Square.
"Listen To Us!" Forum Theatre
Multicultural Women's Issues on stage
Listen To us!’, a production by Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition was brought to the stage last November, expressing issues about immigrant and refugee women using Forum Theatre.
The production was launched at Queen Victoria Women’s Centre. A series of short scenes was presented to an audience comprising of local community, service providers, policymakers, agency heads, politicians and the media.
The Forum Theatre method, which originated in Latin America, gave the audience an opportunity to dialogue with women who participated in drama workshops over 6 months.
Using theatre as a medium for empowering immigrant and refugee women, the Victorian Immigrant & Refugee Women’s Coalition strongly believes that this method had helped the women by directly sharing their experiences by acting out the scenarios that depict their stories.
