2013 Artist In-Residence Grant recipient Vic McEwan at Griffith Regional Art Gallery

Vic McEwan is a composer, sound and installation artist, producer and director who is interested in landscape, communities, remote spaces and cross art form collaboration. 

As a recipient of a 2013 Artist In-Residence grant (ACR), funded by the Copyright Agency Limited Cultural Fund (CAL) and managed by Museums & Galleries NSW, McEwan has embarked on a year-long exploration of a community in recovery, actively seeking the stories from the town of Yenda in the wake of the 2012 floods. 

The floods

“In 2012 many parts of Australia experienced heavy flooding and storm related damage. Yenda, a small town in the Riverina near Griffith with a population of under 1500 people, was given an immediate evacuation order… the consequences being that no time was allowed for collection of precious items or preparation of households and contents… Approximately 230 families, nearly half of the population, have been unable to return due to the severity of damage.” describes McEwan. 

Recording the stories

Image still from Vic McEwan’s Yenda Flood Recovery Arts Project, youtube courtesy the artist and ABC.

Hosted by Griffith Regional Art Gallery and based in Yenda for his residency, McEwan began the project by inviting members of the community to share their stories in the first of many meetings and ongoing public consultations.

Using the residency as a large scale research, documentation and development project, McEwan began by recording the stories of Yenda to develop a communal framework for how the arts can be used by communities recovering from trauma.

Image: Invitation for community meetings in Yenda

by Vic McEwan held earlier this year.

The resulting video projections, video mapping and installations, expressing the community experience, will be shown at a final public event as a celebration of Yenda’s resilience, their rebuilding efforts and the difficulties and successes the community has faced during their ongoing path to repair.

Learn more

http://www.vicmcewan.com/#!yenda/cmm

For more information on the Artist or Curator in Residence program see the Museums & Galleries NSW website: http://mgnsw.org.au/grants/gallery_grants/


The Artist or Curator in Residence Grant Program is supported by the Copyright Agency Limited’s Cultural Fund, and is managed by Museums and Galleries NSW.