Out of The Shadows – Victoria Park Arts Season 2024

Shadow Puppetry Workshops – to create with young people and community, facilitating participants to respond to project themes of connection and culture, and be creatively expressive, exploring the art form of shadow puppetry, the most ancient and popular form of puppet theatre in the world. Learning construction & designing shadow puppets and
scenery through hands on engagement.

It was a pleasure and privilege to work with Rickeeta Walley on another shadow puppet story, this one written by her brother Alton Walley, ‘Chunyart and the Cheeky Parrot’. This is an engaging tale about how the traditional Noongar people of western Australia used plants to sustain human life through food, medicine, shelter, protection and tools.

You can listen to Alton reading his story here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5kfM27q0Sk

After school young people were able to make and play aiding their cultural understanding and knowledge, and their creative development.

Feedback from parents included –

“Very good and funny, you can do anything in shadows! young ones can learn about light and dark, large and small, using their hands and not speaking.”

“For them, its very immersive for us, the language exposure to do the puppets and learning first nations culture”

The art form of puppetry allows all young people & community to explore their design & drama abilities with puppets as the key tool of exploration and communication. The participants design and create their puppets/scenery based on traditional techniques through to contemporary practice. They learn basic shadow puppetry skills & techniques to expressively animate their characters and stories.

Session 1 – introduction to shadow puppets, ideas from themes, hands on play and design.Session 2 – construction of shadow puppet, materials, shadow scenery, performance skills Session 3 – shadow puppetry performance/play development Session 4 – presentation, community celebration

Over 4 weeks families came and made the shadow puppets and scenery together at the Victoria Park Community Centre and then performed the story together, with a community celebration and refreshments to end the project. We were very fortunate to have Elders visit and share the young peoples achievements.

Tipping Point

artworks by Rachel Riggs

Opening night Fri 16th April 2024

Photography by Aimee Hafford @aimeearchive

Covid Times by Rachel Riggs

So Once You Were Here They Had You – Fremantle Biennale 2023

https://fremantlebiennale.com.au/project/so-once-you-were-here-they-had-you/

Site specific installation based on my research into the Ship Tartar 1863 bringing 50 women from the Horrockses cotton mills of Preston, Lancashire to a supposed new life in the Western Australian colony, during the Cotton Famine.

1860’s engraving of womens quarters below deck on board ship to Fremantle

The women were detained in the Emigrants Home, ironically nicknamed ‘Home’ established as a respectable refuge until suitable employment as a domestic or teacher or bride was found. At this time there was eleven men to every one female in WA

It has been a memorable, wonderful experience to collaborate with emerging artists Rebecca, making the rich soundscape and Elham, creating magical realism video art based on research discovered when I was completing my Masters.

Such a privilege to share research and experience in this site specific collaboration to tell the story of the Ship Tartar and the cotton mill women from Preston, and see/hear the transformational story telling created in this magical, multi layered installation by the artists.

SO ONCE YOU WERE HERE THEY HAD YOU By Rebecca Riggs-Bennett & Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson
Commision for the FREMANTLE BIENNALE 2023 SIGNALS 

Sound art installation by Rebecca Riggs-Bennett
Written by Rebecca Riggs-Bennett & Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson
Dramaturg & collaborator Rachel Riggs

Video art directed by Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson
Performed by Rebecca Riggs-Bennett
Soundscape by Rebecca Riggs-Bennett
Voiceover Artists Angeliki Georga and Pheobe Georga
VFX artist Jarrad Russell

Produced by Fremantle Biennale,
Katherine Wilkinson and Tom Mùller

Visit @fremantlebiennale for further information.

Shadow Play Storytelling

For the last few weeks Ive had a wonderful time creating shadows with Rickeeta Whalley and young people from Willagee Community Centre after school club, at the local library, here in Perth, Western Australia.

Rickeeta has adapted a traditional Noongar Dreamtime story about the moon – Meeka giving fire – Karla to the people and animals. Over a few weeks, local young people could drop in and make shadow puppets and scenery for a future performance of this story at the Midwinter Festival, for the City of Melville.

Rickeeta designed the the style of the puppets and scenery, and I facilitated the construction and performance techniques in shadow play. The results are stunningly beautiful – Kwobidak and with a specially composed soundtrack, will be played outside at sunset at the festival.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Thanks to Rickeeta Whalley, Claire Krouzecky – City of Melville Creative Learning Producer, Akira & staff at Willagee library, Karen Shannon & participants

For more info on the Melville Midwinter Festival https://www.melvillecity.com.au/things-to-do/events/our-annual-events/melville-midwinter

Koolangka Waangkiny Storytelling Puppets

Recently I was commissioned by the City of Melville in Western Australia to create storytelling puppets for artist Rickeeta Walley and her storytime sessions for young children at Melville Libraries. Rickeeta tells a variety of Dream Time stories from her families Noongar heritage, adapted for Early years and wanted user friendly puppets to illustrate the characters. I have had the privilege of working closely with Rickeeta before, during my time as coordinator of the ‘Deadly Arts’ creative learning program for The Song Room and creating giant Warlitj and Chiringer (Fairy Wren) puppets for the Wardarnji Festival. Warlitj (Wedgetail Eagle) and Djitti Djitti ( Willy Wagtail bird) feature in the tales and it was decided to make a hand puppet Warlitj and a tabletop rod puppet Djitti Djitti.

The Djitti Djitti puppet was made with polystyrene balls, with a wooden rod inserted securely in the head, and then papermached with brown paper. Strong black cord was threaded through plastic straws, to link the head and body, which stops the cord pulling on the body parts. Wire was twisted into shape to make the legs & feet.

I made the wings with real found feathers and attached a rotating joint system so the wings would flap with the movement of the puppet’s head rod.

The puppet was painted and shiny bead eyes added, legs and feet covered with black vinyl tape and a handle added to the head rod for ease of use The puppet can then be used close up, even with one hand.

The Warlitj hand puppet began with a chamois leather skin, cut, sewn and shaped to make an inner comfortable glove, which is then built on and covered with flexible fabrics. The beak shape was built up with foam layers, eyes added and the puppet was given a textured inner mouth, to make the puppet tactile and sensory for touch. Fabric wings and feathers were added, which move as the puppet does.

Visiting children to the storytime sessions, love the animated characters and the enrichment for family engagement with small children.

I am looking forward to our continued development together, with shadow stories being created with community for the Melville Midwinter Festival June 2023

Thanks to Emma Hewitt & Claire Krouzecky – Creative Learning Producers @cityofmelville

Little Things of Wonder #1 The Suffragette Penny

Defaced protest penny 1908

From my miniature collection, this genius piece of history, a penny stamped with the suffragette slogan “VOTES FOR WOMEN ”, circulated as small change to the public, to spread the message of suffrage.

Defacing a coin was a serious criminal offence, and activists risked going to prison, as they did with more serious acts of rebellion. But this was a more subtle form of protest in 1915, probably inspired by the Anarchist movement.

The King of England, Edward VII’s patriarchal profile is defiled, the letters hammered in by suffragettes, with anger and frustration from the lack of equality and womens rights.

Britannica 1908

Each penny was hand stamped using metal punches and a hammer. And on the other side, the goddess Britannica, represented Britain and reminded people of female strength. These common pennies would of been in circulation and spread the message of the campaign in everyday situations.

Suffragettes – vintage magazine print, wallpaper, greeting cards 35x 45cm RRiggs

To deface a coin was shocking, like bra burning in the 1960’s womens movement. It was a stroke of genius in the long battle for women’s rights. Pennies were so cheap and were produced in such high numbers, that recalling them would have been impossible.

It was civil disobedience on an everyday scale – an action that resonated throughout society and demonstrated solidarity.

This penny is probably a copy, but i love to think of the social history of womens disobedience it holds and the secret strength it must of given to women in servitude and oppression.

#internationalwomensday #sufferage #womenshistory #women #femmage #femalegaze #feministart #suffragette

The Song Room Deadly Arts

Thank you and goodbye! and thats a wrap for all the amazing arts based learning programs in WA for now.

After 8 years at #thesongroom as Teaching Artist, Community Liason & WA coordinator for the Deadly Arts program, the programs are finished in WA and my post has been made redundant.

I want to thank with gratitude the incredible artists and elders, i have been privileged to work with, the schools and community, my managers and the arts learning team.

It has been a wonderful time!

Hundreds & Thousands Exhibition 23 Nov 21 – 23 Jan 22

I never posted about the fantastic opportunity i had to create a Shadow Play installation and workshop program from created shadow artworks for the ‘Hundreds & Thousands’ exhibition for family storytelling experiences with audience engagement.

Weekly workshops were held for families, with children of all ages and abilities to access the world of shadow play using an old school over head projector, colour sheets and cut out silhouettes of native animals and flora.

https://www.fac.org.au/2021/10/delight-in-the-magic-of-colour-at-hundreds-thousands-a-vibrant-new-exhibition-for-kids-and-families/

Riggs & Miller exhibition opening