Stunning local images were projected into the night sky as Haven’s continuing rejuvenation from the 2009 Victorian Bushfires was celebrated last Friday night at Anzac Park.
Interviews with three community members were projected onto walls and the tall trees surrounding Anzac Park as part of the Re-Generation Project.
The event was organised by the local community and funded through the Victorian Government’s Community Arts Grants program.
Students from Haven Primary played an important role in the event which had a special focus on inter-generational story telling. They produced a 50 page publication telling their stories of regeneration from the bushland’s perspective.
Horsham Rural City Council Arts Development Officer Jillian Pearce said it was an opportunity for the Haven community to reflect on and express, in a variety of ways, their experience of loss, change and resilience in the 10 years since the Remlaw Fire.
“The work looked amazing on an unusually cold March evening, people strolled through Anzac Park as they moved from tree to tree quietly listening to the interviewees share their reflections and memories,” Ms Pearce said.
“Drawings from Haven Primary School students with the theme of regeneration were also projected onto the walls.”
Ms Pearce said the unearthing and reburying of a Black Saturday time capsule with stories of regeneration was a fitting way to capture the community’s reflections.
“A ‘Tree Story’ publication by Haven Primary School and the feature interviews will go into the time capsule which will be opened again in 10 years,” she said. This will also include hand written stories by the community reflecting on the past 10 years.
The event was a follow up to February’s official anniversary of the bushfires which was attended by Victorian Governor Linda Dessau.
The students will plant trees around the newly installed remembrance rails in the coming weeks to mark the finalisation of the project for 2019.
