Making people's stories matter: a reflective case study of a community arts project with a group of migrant women cleaners

Abstract

Making people’s stories matter: a reflective case study of a community arts project with a group of migrant women cleaners This research examines historical and contemporary approaches to community art and community cultural development (CACCD) practice. The inquiry uses values, beliefs, and principles of CACCD revealed in this study: self-expression, caring, solidarity, and hope to investigate an Australian community arts and cultural development (CACD) project. The author proposes an ethical collaborative basis as a corrective to what the research describes as the unstable and vulnerable government-funded CACCD artistic practice. The researcher deploys intrinsic qualitative case methodology to investigate social meanings and value of CACCD practice, applying a theoretical lens to the case from the perspective of an artist and practitioner, using a sample of my CACD work, “The Monologue”. The study applies anthropologist Ghassan Hage’s writings to the case. Hage draws on migrant and refugee stories to reveal meaning, and challenge aspects of Australian life. Hage’s focus on migrants and refugees as marginalised is salient as the case involves migrant women cleaners. The study design focusses on storytelling, a key element of CACD practice. An anthology and theatre production emerged from the women’s stories within the Invisible Work Invisible Pain project (1996-1998) undertaken in a union setting. The case of the monologue Fly developed from the experience of Lora, injured during her work. Together with Hage’s concepts of “gifts of social life” identified CACD principles are applied discursively to the case study. The results reveal the significance of relationships, i.e., collaboration between artists, practitioners, and people, generating art works representing participants’ experiences. A network of relations, including financial endowment and government policy supported the project, providing an essential power base for completion. The subsequent production/art work symbolises a set of agencies enabling otherwise unnoticed voices and stories to be known within society. However, dependence on shifting government policy/funding inhibits potential and misrecognises the value and ability of the work to address issues of social justice. This study unlocks the potential of CACD, revealing, in the case of Lora, how Hage’s gifts of social life are appropriate to CACD work. This research is significant to understanding overlooked dynamics of CACD practice essential for sustaining respect and reciprocity within civil society.