NOONGAR DOLL WORKSHOPS
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I found working with the kids making dolls very moving. Some of the stories were really heartfelt, and to see the young kids smile and enjoy making the doll, and seeing their own final product, and sharing their stories, is something very powerful. So to me the best part of the workshops was watching the joy of that child learning something new, and experiencing and sharing their emotional journey with us through doll making.
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– Geri Hayden, Noongar Doll Maker
From November 2013 to January 2014, PICA exhibited string theory: Focus on Australian contemporary art. Touring from the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and curated by MCA Senior Curator, Glenn Barkley the exhibition brought together Aboriginal artists who work with contemporary textiles and craft-based traditions using a diverse range of mediums. To coincide with this exhibition, and as part of PICA’s Spark_Lab Education Program, partner school Roseworth Primary were invited to engage on-site with elements of this exhibition. Together with Community Arts Network WA (CAN WA), Narrogin artists Geri Hayden and Sonia Kickett were invited to facilitate a doll-making workshop. The tutors worked closely with the students to develop individual hand made dolls, utilising materials such as fabrics, thread, wool, ribbon and buttons. Discussions surrounding the past, present and future, encouraged themes including memories, family, stereotypes and the environment to unfold. The characters created became metaphors for family, friends and the young artists themselves. 3
Through doll making, the children were able to express narratives that were touching, funny, brave and personal. These dolls become tangible objects that the participants kept, as much a reminder of their artistic and original output through school community involvement as an almost totemic transitional object to cherish in their lives.
Minaxi May Acting Education Program Manager
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Roseworth Primary School celebrates a rich cultural diversity with a high proportion of our students from language backgrounds other than English. 10% of students are Vietnamese and approximately 30% of the students are of Indigenous origin. Our school caters for a low-socio-economic community and in doing so gains significant benefit from initiatives such as Spark_Lab. This wonderful initiative fosters and promotes a lifelong interest in the arts amongst students by introducing them to the exciting world of contemporary art through creative and engaging activities. The Roseworth Primary School community has been immersed in creative, exciting and stimulating opportunities for our students, opportunities that are so necessary for students, who due to their socio-economic circumstances, would otherwise have limited exposure. Spark_Lab provided opportunity for our school to access the expertise of PICA staff and artists across many genres. The experiences for our students were wide and varied and introduced them to an exciting world of creativity and expression. As a result of activities, such as the doll making workshop, 6
students with relatively low levels of literacy and numeracy were able to participate fully in activities, which allowed them to achieve. The raising of selfesteem was very evident in such students. The opportunity to travel to PICA and engage with worldrenowned artists, by engaging in this workshop, enhanced artistic skills and knowledge, which were then used in classrooms. This significantly motivated the whole school in creating an artistic community of students, staff and parents. I commend PICA for reaching out to schools such as Roseworth to foster and develop creativity and for the way in which our students have been supported to take risks, embrace creativity and produce, explore, experience and experiment with art.
Sue Brockman Principal 20th February 2014
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I did Flash because this reminds me of my “childhood, so when I’m old I’ll remember that I loved Super Heroes. – David Tim ”
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I went to the Gold Coast for my Aunty’s Wedding and “I wore a tux. I looked awesome, so I made it a doll. ” – Nicholas Davis-Dodd
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My doll is a representation of myself. I have “named him Alen because I really like this name. The first three letters are the same as my name this is why I like it. As this doll is a representation of me he likes to do what I like to do. One of our favourite things is to dress up like ninjas. – Alex Nguyen 10
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I named my doll Mikey because this doll is a “representation of myself. Mikey is my nickname. My doll is wearing a red t-shirt and blue pants for its outfit. This is the outfit I wore when I performed my first ever Michael Jackson dance. I remember feeling very excited and happy in this outfit. – Mithil Goteti
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The name of my doll is Ella, she was my favourite. I “attempted to recreate her clothes she was wearing when I had her. She wore a ferocious red dress as bright as can be. Ella was a little bit torn in places when I found her. I was walking around looking at verge collections and there she was. There is just something about Ella. She became my favourite doll because she is so beautiful. – Lily Kambouris 12
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My doll reminds me of my aunty so that’s why I called her “Aunty Dung. She is shorter than me, that’s why I made her short. She is wearing an apron because she is a great cook. I love eating her food. – Kim Le
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name is Mahina and this doll represents my “Nan.Hi my Her name is Shirley. I made my Nan red because it makes me remember how important she was to me. My Nan passed away on October the 5th. – Mahina Oneroa 14
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This doll is called Muffy, and it represents my Nan, “because she is very important to me. I made her brown, because that is her favourite colour. I did pants, because she only wears pants. I did a purple t-shirt, because her favourite shirt is purple. I made my Nan with no hair because it represents my Nan when she had cancer. – Francis Andrews
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I made this doll as a representation of my sister’s “boyfriend Shannon. Shannon seems to have an effect on my sister. When he’s around my eldest sister is a lot nicer to the whole family. When he’s not around she always seems grumpier. I much rather the happy smiling sister. – Jarod Herd-Brandstater 16
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I made this doll when I went to PICA. This doll “represents me, when I went to Adventure World for my birthday. It was so fun, I had a swim and went on the water slide. My doll has a black t-shirt and blue boardies, ready to swim. – David O’Byrne
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Black Magic is a Aboriginal AFL Player. Black “Magic played really well. He marked every kick coming his way and every goal he lined up for. Everyone thought this was magic. That’s why I’m calling him Black Magic. – Ezekiel Bolton
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I named my doll Laura. This is because I have “a friend named Laura who is very special to me. I haven’t seen Laura in a very long time. Laura loved the clothes I have chosen to put on my doll, they were her absolute favourite. – Eden Turuneh
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is a doll that means a lot to me because when “myThis mum and dad were arguing, I was crying because I thought nothing would happen like this. I made this doll for my mum so she can know that I love her and don’t like to see her fighting. – Marianna Hussein
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This was my first doll I ever made. When I started “making it I did not know what to do, but when I put the clothes and the necklace on, it reminded me of my brother Jack. He is really funny and he shares. He is really important to me and so is my family. – Abbey Zdunic
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doll shows that my great-grandad is a caring “andThisloving person that I love. He’s a great traveller. He had big eyes for sightseeing and the same tuxedo for weddings. The second time I saw my great-granddad was at my Aunty Sam’s wedding because he was the boogie man. He kept on asking all the ladies if they liked to dance. My Mum said no thank you, but he still danced with someone and he was happy. My great-granddad stopped travelling at Boyup Brook and he lived there for a while. My great-granddad got really sick and died of liver cancer and I feel really upset that he died of cancer. Now we have a doll to remember him. – Karla-Rose Herd-Brandstater 22
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This doll I have, represents my skin colour. The hair “represents my Aunty with blonde hair. The shape of the doll represents my Dad, and the eyes represent my little sister. My little sister always wanted a doll that has been handmade from me, this is why I’m giving this to her. Also because I’m a New Zealander and not all New Zealanders have to have brown skin, brown eyes and brown hair. We are all different and we all come in different sizes, and that’s my story. My doll’s name is Beyonce. – Reign Tahapehi
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My doll represents my mum because she is a kind “person and helps the community a lot. Also my mum has brown hair but she dyed her hair blond and black. She has blue eyes, light skin, she is short and has lots of freckles. She likes sport and cooking as well. – Taylah Mann 24
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this doll to represent my Pop. He’s dying, “butI made he’s the most important thing to me right now. He used to live on a farm that we used to visit a lot. ” – Nicole Green
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This dolls name is Rodney. Rodney is my Pop’s “name. This doll is my Pop, he died on October 6th, 2013, so this doll is very special to me. It reminds me of my Pop and if he was still alive he would be so proud of me. This doll means so much to me, and even though my Pop died, I still love him. – Maddison Byron 26
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It took me a while to choose who I would make, but “I figured it out. I chose someone who inspires me to achieve my goals and dreams and who stays by side all the time and has been a huge role model. I chose my mum Tiarn Kent. – Bianca Boxall-Kent
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My doll is my Grandpa. I was not born when he “passed away but my Mum told me all about him so I decided to make him. I am sad that he has passed away and that I cannot see him. – Benoit Sumail
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My doll is based on my best friend Tony, because when “I went to this school I didn’t know much about English. I didn’t even know how to speak English, but when I met this guy in Pre-Primary, he taught me everything about English. When I was in year 4 we met a guy named Mithil. I have known Tony for 6 and a half years. – Minh Vo
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My doll is of my friend Tejae. He was the first friend “I made at school and we have been friends since we started at school. The blue is for Roseworth. The red is a glove. Tejae likes to play football. – Declan Byron 30
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This doll is based on my Nanna. I saw the type of “material and this is what she wore, so I thought I would do her. I had some trouble putting it together. I used the red material because she used to wear it in summer. The name of my doll is Margaret. – Travis Davey-McPeak
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The doll that I made is my Mum, because my mum “is special and strong. She looks after me and my 2 brothers and my little sister. My mum is the best in the world. The hair is because my mum is a star. – Talysha Chadwick-Quinn 32
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this doll because when I was 10 years old I lost “myI made mother. This represents her because she loved to sew. She sewed most of our curtains, blankets and clothes. I used gold fabric because it was my mum’s favourite colour. That’s my story. My doll’s name is Debbie. – Courtney Vaughan
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My doll represents my Grandad and my Dad “because they have fair coloured skin . When they get back from bush walking their skin is a lot darker and that is why my doll is dark. They are the most important males in my family. It was tricky adding clothes and hair to my doll. It’s name is Phillip – Jacob Kent
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My dolls name is Cap. My doll is based on my Pop. The “reason why I chose my Pop is because he has a great story and here it is. My Pop lost his arm in a car crash . He was lucky. A while later he lost his leg because he got a blister which got infected, and that’s how he lost his arm and leg. A few years later he died. I chose the checked fabric because he was Scottish. – Gemma Gibson 35
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I made my doll to represent a story about an “Aboriginal Bush monster. The story is this : Once upon a time there were 2 Aboriginal doctors named Kyle and Cole. They went out into the bush to kill kangaroos. They discovered a man with a bad scratch. The doctors did their best to heal the poor man but suddenly the Bush Man swooped out of nowhere and poured poisonous potion onto the man’s scratch. The doctors watched in horror as the poor man’s body grew horrifying fur. He was then known as the Bush Monster. – Joshua Hockley 36
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When my grandpa passed away I felt sad but I just “wanted to make a doll that can remind me of him. The clothes on him represent his favourite colour. ” – Martin Isaacs
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Toni. She gives me lots of things. “MyThisauntydollletsis mymeaunty look after my baby cousin Alexa while she is doing chores. She has long brown hair and she likes to wear headbands. When she goes out she puts on a belt so I made a belt for my doll. – Han Han Tran
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My doll is my little brother called Dylan. I chose “Dylan because sometimes he goes bowling with me. His favourite colour is blue, red, white and black which is why I chose those colours for my dolls clothes. – Kyle Zaffra
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This doll is my uncle. He is a Maori. I made him “black with sticking up hair. My uncle has a black belt in karate. He lives in New Zealand and I don’t get to see him very much so that’s why I made my doll. – Josiah Young 40
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Hannah from my other school. “I stillThisseedollherisasmywefriend are friends. She has dark skin and long dark hair. Hannah comes to my house and we play games and have sleepovers. – Nancy Ismail
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doll is my cat Miss Kitty. When I was little my “bestMyfriend had too many kittens and so they gave me one. My Dad went to pick it up for me 6 weeks after it had been born. My Dad bought it home for me and I was excited. Miss Kitty is black and white and she is my favourite. – Sienna Slater-Greer 42
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is my mum. Mum lets me go food shopping “withMyher,dollwhich I like. She helps me all the time. Mum’s favourite colour is purple, which is why I chose the shirt and skirt. My doll has brown hair like my mum. – Eliza Humes-Cameron
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My doll is my Mum. I chose her because she is caring, “is always there for me. I gave her a necklace because she likes jewellery. The pattern on her skirt is a floral pattern because my mum likes flowers. – Brooke Smallman-Coutts 44
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is Violet. I named my doll Violet because “thatMywasdollsmyname nana’s name. Sadly, I lost my Nan 6 months ago and I really miss her. My doll is red because it represents her favourite flower which is red roses. Her eyes are black because it’s a part of the aboriginal flag. Her necklace is purple, gold and blue because they were my nana’s favourite colours. – Rebecca Hill 45
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My dolls name is Renee. It is my sister. I did her red “because it represents the sun burn because she loves the beach. I did her hair pink because it represents how she is an artist and how she loves trying new things. I put a yellow ribbon around her neck because it represents the sun in the big blue sky, which also represents her eye colour. – Brianna Walton
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doll is Big Mac. I chose the name Big Mac because “its My my nick name. I did brown skin because it shows the colour of my skin and represents my culture. I decorated my doll as a Fremantle Football Club Player. Football is my favourite sport and the Fremantle Dockers are my favourite AFL team. The number 23 on his back represents my favourite player Chris Mayne and my lucky number. – Alex Mackie
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I made this doll to think about my Mum’s sister. I “called it May because the blue represents my mum’s sisters eyes. The red represents the red scars on her arms. The white represents the fingers and the brown represents hair. – Hope Reid
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My doll is Emily. I made her because my cousin is “a girl and she always wears red flower pants and a shirt that has different colours.” – Beaurine Nshimirimana
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My doll’s name is Jaguar. This doll represents my “brother. It reminds me not to fight with my brother, because we usually fight a lot. So whenever I do fight with my brother, I can look at it and forget the fight ever happened. – Aesha Anyang
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This doll is a representation of my first chicken Fiona. “Fiona is my favourite chook out of seven chickens. This is because she is a very talented chicken. Fiona likes to perform lots of tricks which I’ve taught her. Lucky for me she also a really good listener. – Marym Alesa
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I made this doll thinking about my mum, because “I was meant to give her a present for Christmas so I was going to give her my doll. I called it Shadow because shadows copy people. – Serenity Aramakutu 52
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My doll represents a European person, when they “came to settle in New Zealand. I dressed him in blue top and black leather pants, to look like a uniform. I gave him black hair. I chose to make this doll because my Dad keeps telling me the stories. – Te Kawae Aramakutu
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doll is my Mum. She has long hair. I dressed her “upMyin nice clothes as she is going to have dinner at the Casino and she is all dressed up. I choose to make my Mum because she always gets things for me and sometimes she is funny to be around. – Christina Quartermaine 54
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This is my sister Brooke. She is 20. Brooke was hit by “a car and had to go to hospital. Brooke had to have a brace on her arm and her leg. She is very special to me because she does lots of things for me and with me. I love my sister. – Chelsea Gibson-French
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I made my sister Nikeya because she is helpful and “I love her a lot. I would like to be like my sister one day. I dressed her up in fancy clothes as she always dresses up to go out with her boyfriend. – Katie Leonard 56
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is my Mum. She is beautiful, helpful and “kind.MyMydollMum loves me with all her heart. On the excursion to PICA my Mum came and helped so I made her with the materials that she liked. – Kylie Mudra
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made this doll as a representation of myself. “TheI have black material represents my skin colour. I used the green because it is my favourite colour. The gold material is very pretty that’s why I decided to use this as well. – Adhlock Mabor
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is my soccer coach. His name is Charles “andThishedoll broke his leg and I had to play in a soccer match. He is wearing a striped shirt because that is what he always liked to wear. – Andy Nguyen
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my doll to represent my Grandma because “sheI made takes me on holidays to Bali. She buys pretty dresses from Bali, and she takes me shopping for Christmas and birthday presents. She feeds the birds with me when I come over and lets me play on her notepad. She has an animal patterned dress, because she likes animals, and she sometimes wears floral dresses. My doll’s name is Jenny. – Paige Lane 60
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best friend Charlie. I have known Charlie “sinceThisweis my were born and we have been friends from when we were babies. We make each other laugh when we play together. She is always there for me when I’m down and she cheers me up by making me laugh. Charlie feels like my sister as she means the world to me. – Skyla McCallum
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My doll is my brother Anton. Anton has moved to “Tasmania to live with his Dad. I don’t see him very much and I miss him and he misses me. I made Anton with a rats tail. He likes polka dots and stars. – Tye Calyan 62
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doll is my sister Angel. She used to come to “thisThisschool. Angel helps me a lot. She is dressed up all pretty because she likes to look nice. We play dress ups at home. – Ryan Pickett
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Paul because my dad’s name is “PaulMyanddollI islovenamed him. I only get to see him every second weekend. The t-shirt he is wearing is blue because his favourite colour is blue. – Paige Bumpus
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My doll is my friend Tiarna who comes from New “Zealand. She is my best friend and also my neighbour. Tiarna is very kind and very nice. Sometimes we have sleepovers and we do things for our younger sisters. I dressed Tiarna as a flower girl from when she was at her Mum and Dad’s wedding. – Jessica Collie
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This is my sister Marym. I made her because one “morning when we were getting ready to go to school my little brother ran away and Marym saved him from getting hurt or lost so she is a hero. I dressed Marym in her school uniform and put her headscarf on as well. – Moluk Alesa 66
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my Pop. He is kind and funny. “MyMydolldollhasrepresents odd eyes, just like my Pop. My pop passed away three years ago and I still miss him. I can look at my doll and remember him. – Emily Taylor
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my doll because my Mum and Dad wanted “meI made to be a model. The colours I chose where red, brown and purple because they are my favourites. ” – Charlene Tahapei
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Mum. I made her because she helps me do “stuff.ThisSheis myis wearing a headscarf because she is Muslim. My Mum likes to rest after she has done lots of chores. I like to go out with her and to go on holidays with her. – Camellia Abdul Rahman
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I chose to create my Dad because he has “inspired me to become many things. I want to repay him with a gift, and if anything happens, he will always be my dad. – Year 5 Student
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represents my mum. The clothes my doll “hasThison doll are an aqua shirt and white shorts. I chose this outfit because its one my mum actually has. The colour of the material is dark brown because my mum has dark skin. My doll has skinny arms and legs because my mum is skinny. I named my doll Mel because that’s what all my relatives called my mum when she was young. – Courtney Little
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Batavia. I made her because I don’t “getThisto seeis myhercousin very much only on holidays. She’s very pretty and her hair sticks up like the hair on my doll. My cousin is funny. When she sleeps over at my house we watch Foxtel. She is 14 and used to go to the same school as me. We like to walk in the bush together and work at our shop in Cosmo-Newberry – Denva O’Byrne
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This is my first doll I made and it represents me. The “Kimono represents all the things I have learnt from going to Vietnam, and my Mum and Dad. It also represents how much I’ve grown over time. The bright orange pants represents the joy and friends I have made. It also shows all the bad and good times I’ve had. – Tony Nguyen
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Spark_Lab brings students and teachers up close and personal with contemporary artists, dancers, theatre makers, musicians and innovators across a wide range of disciplines through an exciting program of events, activities and on-line resources. Spark_Lab has been informed by Growing Future Innovators, a ground breaking new research project conducted in partnership with Edith Cowan University investigating ways in which contemporary arts institutions can educate for innovation.