Overview
This project engages older Vietnamese people living in housing estates in Melbourne’s Inner West. Through a series of bilingual creative workshops, the project aims to build social connection and mental well-being in a time of COVID-19 recovery.
Using food as a point of connection, the workshops invite participants to share memories and recipes that resonate with them and that are unique to their region in Vietnam. Their stories are captured in a zine which they can share with friends and family.
My role
I was engaged as an artist to design the program, facilitate workshop sessions, and curate the final publication.
Stakeholders
Cohealth / ArtsGen team, Aged Residential Outreach Team, workshop participants.
Cohealth is a not-for-profit community health organisation providing services in Victoria and Tasmania. ArtsGen is one of its programs that support the creative potential of communities.
The Aged & Residential Outreach Team runs community-engaged programs that supports older people living in housing estates and residential housing in Melbourne’s North and West
A flexible system
I designed a simple worksheet & prompt card system that encourages storytelling. Each section of the worksheet is explored in a workshop session and builds upon the last. The goal is for each person to complete their page by the end of the workshop series, which then becomes a building block of the zine.
Hands-on, social experience
The workshop program was designed to be hands-on and interactive. I guided participants to fill out the worksheet, weaving in social games (puzzle challenge, bingo etc.) and encouraging them to share what they created with others. At the end of each session, everyone gathered for a community lunch.
Designing for accessibility
All graphic materials use large fonts and are bilingual. Since some participants were unable to write, visual materials like photographs and stickers ensure that they can still express themselves.
Getting people into groups, with someone who’s happy to write and transcribe in each group, proves to be an effective strategy as these members can help capture other participants’ stories.
The Aged Residential Outreach Team provided excellent support on participants’ accessibility needs. Their insights informed my design and helped me stay flexible and adaptive on the day.
Outcome
The stories shared culminated in a zine called “Food & Memories from Vietnam”. Using the pages created during the workshops, I designed the zine layout and liaised with the printer during production. Each participant received a finished copy to take home and share with family and friends
Photo credit
Artificial Studios
Nhu Duong 