| Community Heritage Project: Wattan Report |
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1. Raise awareness and develop community participation in the cultural heritage of the Lebanese and Arab Australian communities.
Awareness needs to be raised by highlighting the serious "gaps" in the participation and representation of Arab Australians in Australian cultural institutions, by challenging entrenched attitudes and misconceptions, as well as by developing creative programmes and providing information. While it was not within the scope of this project to conduct a survey of institutions, it is clear that there is a significant absence of a major element of Australian community, i.e. the Lebanese and Arab Australian communities. Within Australian cultural institutions, there are few Arab Australian representations, collections, public programmes, exhibitions etc. nor are there Arabic speaking staff, community partnerships and corporate associations.
This overall aim of raising awareness was met through the following objectives (2 to 15). Community participation was encouraged through networking, consultation, re-activating the project Focus Group, organising a successful public event in Redfern, distributing a questionnaire, conducting meetings, taping interviews and developing organisational partnerships.
Therefore by reactivating the project and its profile on a number of levels, awareness is being raised within various networks: Lebanese and Arab Australian communities, Redfern and the South Sydney Local Government Area, the Powerhouse Museum, the NSW Government, academic research networks in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, and within other cultural institutions e.g. NSW State Library and the National Library in Canberra.
2. Develop and implement an oral history project with a focus on the Redfern area, as a site of early Lebanese and Arab settlement in NSW.
The project drew on previous groundwork (1998) and developed new networks within the Redfern area. The aim was to build up a profile on a number of levels and to generate community participation, and this would lead to elderly people to interview, as well as creating an "action research" context for the work.
3. Develop effective community partnerships.
Partnerships and relationships developed on a range of levels, exploring the interests of both parties, as well as creating new directions for both.
4. Re-activate community committees.
The Focus Group, which had developed in 1998, is an important site for the discussion of issues and contradictions, especially as there is no other Arab Australian connection within the PHM.
5. Key meetings with relevant people.
The project built on the previous groundwork within Arab Australian Communities, by making connections within other relevant sectors.
6. Community network within the Redfern area, including indigenous community organisations and the Eveleigh Railway project.
The Project found that there are very few community services for Arabic speaking people (outside the religious centres). There is a part-time Arabic speaking worker who operates from two bases in the region. Though the Arabic speaking community is established in the area, there are still "new arrivals". Some people access services in Marrickville.
South Sydney Council is planning to develop an Aboriginal Heritage Project, so there would be future potential for collaborative work. Communications developed between the Project and several Aboriginal community groups, especially in relation to the public event in Redfern. The Project has a consultative relationship with the Aboriginal Project Officer at the PHM, Steve Miller.
7. Investigate various technologies for documentation.
The PHM A-V Unit has no digital equipment for oral history documentation. The project was able to borrow a Marantz recorder and a reasonably good microphone. 90-minute audiocassettes were readily available (although the Oral History Association recommends 60-min. tapes).
The A-V Unit has facilities for copying tapes (for the interviewees, as well as for future transcription / logging work).
The Conservation Department Photographer, Nitsa Yioupros, has been available for some visual documentation work, and there are plans to create a photo-essay with the participants of the oral history documentation.
8. Complete six to ten oral history interviews
Elderly people have been the current focus of the oral history work - this is urgent, as many have already passed away, and stories of early experiences are being lost. The Oral History documentation has great potential to develop further through expanding the Projects own networks (e.g. "word of mouth" referrals to more elderly people). The Project can also inspire other similar projects, as well as linking with similar projects and research around Australia. This is a slow process, as the current focus on elderly people means there are often obstacles such as health, or waiting for the convenience of other family members to access the interviewee (and to accompany the interviewer).
The recorded material (ten tapes) is currently stored at the Powerhouse Museum, and provides valuable primary source material for future work. After the completion of the interviews, copies of the tapes will be given to the interviewees.
The documentation includes:
Also to be recorded later in February:
Mohamad Halabe (late 70s), Nadim Zahra (70)
9. Photographic documentation of people, historical sites and material culture.
The Project currently has the following visual documentation, with plans for more in the immediate future.
10. Identification of possible sites for State Heritage Registration.
These are possibilities for future heritage work:
11. Develop a centralised directory of Lebanese and Arab Communities Heritage.
The first and second phases of this project have created a reasonable database, which could lead to a directory.
12. The Project Officer will prepare media releases and arrange interviews to publicise the project. Draft copies must be forwarded to the Director, Migration Heritage Centre.
The first (and only) media release was in November 1999, jointly distributed by the PHM and the MHC. Interviews were recorded and broadcast on SBS Arabic Radio (with the participation of wattan Focus Group member, Ihab Shalbak) and Koori Radio (community radio, with Steve Miller, PHM Aboriginal Projects Officer). The material for a second general media release has been prepared.
13. The Project Officer will prepare and provide briefing material (including all media releases, media clips, media schedules and community consultation programmes etc.) to keep the Migration Heritage Centre and respective State Ministers fully informed of the project and process in advance of events taking place.
Briefing was consistent from August to November 1999. The press release was copied as an information flyer, and has been used frequently. A flyer was produced by the Project Officer for publicity of the community meeting in Redfern. This was approved by PHM PR and forwarded to MHC for approval. The flyer was used for distribution, including mail and fax.
14. The Project Officer and the Museum are required to ensure that all material produced to record and promote this project carries the logos and advised texts for the Migration Heritage Centre, the New South Wales Government Ministry for the Arts, in association with the logo for the Museum.
Implemented.
15. The Museum and the Project officer are required to report briefly every four weeks to the Director, Migration Heritage Centre on the progress of th project and identify variations to this agreement.
Reporting was done verbally at meetings and over the phone. There was one written report, as well as email communication between the Project Officer and Bruce Robinson and Andrea Fernandes.