One Boy's Story
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday March 15, 2008
A TEENAGE Sudanese boy recently came to one of the arts immersion sessions run by Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in conjunction with Chunky Move and the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne. According to his teacher, since his arrival here he has been withdrawn, uncommunicative and sad. You can guess why. During the immersion sessions he slipped into the exhibition. Our education leader found him dancing between four video works. She asked him, "Do you like dancing?"
"Yes," he replied. So she organised for him to participate in a workshop with Chunky Move's hip-hop group. He loved it. During the visual arts session, led by artist Laressa Kosloff, he created an entire storyboard for a film and talked emotionally about the life he had come from. He had created his new Australian story. He found tools to communicate that day. The teacher cried. We all cried. Need I say more?
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
