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"Handle With Care" New multimedia work by 50 young people part of three year Drugs Misuse Prevention program to be launched in Moree this Friday 1 March 2004 Special Minister for State, the Hon. John Della Bosca will launch the New South Wales Drugs Misuse Prevention Strategy in Moree on 5 March, 2004. The Strategy, funded by the State Government through the Police Minister's Confiscated Proceeds Fund, is delivered in partnership between BIG hART and Arts North West. "The strategy was conceived to provide art intervention projects for young people experiencing multiple layers of disadvantage, and their families, across regional New South Wales," said Jack Ritchie, Regional Arts Development Officer at Arts North West. "As with other recent Big hArt / Arts North West collaborations, which resulted in the AFI Award winning film Hurt in 1999 and the 2001-02 kNOT @ Home project, The Drugs Misuse Prevention Strategy employs artists to work with and mentor young people on arts based projects. The first of these, a multimedia performance entitled Handle With Care, will feature at the launch." Unlike previous projects, the Drugs Misuse Prevention Strategy will not be delivered by the BIG hART core team. Instead it uses the same philosophy and processes to engage local artists and Community Cultural Development (CCD) workers in a mentoring process to work with disadvantaged young people. Handle With Care has so far involved mentors including 13 young people and 9 local artists, engaged with over 247 young people and their families and included 52 skills development workshops. Artists and CCD workers have worked alongside services and agencies targeting young people at risk through 11 local government areas and 13 communities from Nimbin to Cobar - over 200,000 square kilometres. It has resulted in a multimedia performance by 50 young people from communities throughout the New England and North West. Handle with Care incorporates film, sound, music, the art of celebration, circus, dance, photography and visual art to explore the narratives of the young people. According to BIG hART's Kim McConville, "The project aims to bring the voices from the margins of community into the centre of community." The stories address volatilities within families and community and express the need for communities to work together to engage with their young people. "Issues faced by young people experiencing multiple layers of disadvantage can't be dealt with easily and this project is part of a three year commitment to sustain their engagement with community," said Ms McConville. Directed by Matthew Priestly (Co director of the BIG hART AFI Award winning film Hurt), produced by Denni Scott Davis (Slippry Sirkus) and edited by Kim O'Connell (Big hART film maker from kNOT @ Home), Handle With Care has emerged from 40 hours of film and over 100 recorded songs. "This is only the beginning," said Ms McConville. "Following its launch, the Drugs Misuse Prevention Strategy will continue to work with young people across the region. A planned installation will be showcased in Sydney later in the year followed by a regional tour of all participating communities." "The community presentations of the work will include community forums to promote discussion about substance misuse and the associated effects. Alcohol is considered to be the most widely used and abused substance in these communities and young people are increasingly burdened by the outcomes of alcohol abuse and the associated risks facing their families." "While the issues of substance abuse must be addressed carefully, the region's young people and their families must also be handled with care." CONTACT |