The Big West Festival: Home is where the heart is  

The biennial festival The Big West has been launched. It runs from the 20-29 November and spreads itself throughout almost every available nook and cranny across the suburbs of Melbourne’s west. The artistic and cultural riches of Footscray and its surrounds have again been harvested under the steady gaze of the director of the festival, Karen Hadfield.

So what are the outcomes Hadfield is hoping to see?

The Big West is becoming a festival that is a cultural phenomenon in itself, and unlike any contemporary arts festival in the world, in terms of scope of type of event and audience appeal. Hadfield is eager to free the world of contemporary art from the grip of the chosen few.

“I just want art to be more accessible because I think people are scared of the word arts and the arts; I want to see that barrier broken down. Art shouldn’t be separated out. Art should belong to the communities”.

The program is extensive. It includes a concert called the Heartland Concert which draws on the African music culture local to the area. Hadfield says “we try to focus on artists who reside here in the west but it is not exclusive. It might be a topic that is topical to the west. Or I just think it is a bloody good show”.

One bloody good show she has brought in is the Big Knit which is facilitated by an American sculptor called Dave Cole. It is a huge knitting installation that all are invited to contribute to, culminating in a giant “cast-off” dance party. Performances, exhibitions, films, installations, collective enterprises, lectures, culinary events and music comprise the programme this year. In the attempt to summarise its sheer breadth the festival calls itself “a community-based, contemporary arts and culture festival”.

Hadfield is aware that the concept of community arts is too often tainted with preconceptions of amateurism and process over product. “I want to break down the barriers but I still want excellent quality. And accessibility. There is a tag put on to community arts that is a little bit daggy, a bit hokey and a bit underdone but everyone had a great time doing it.

What I would like to do is to produce extraordinary pieces of work from the community and that is about production values coupled with artistic values”.

I wondered whether Hadfield’s barrier breaking led to the notion of everybody being an artist. She replied: “No, maybe not. I don’t know if everyone is an artist however I do know everyone does have a contribution. People rely on artists to articulate what they themselves can’t articulate. What I am saying is that I don’t want art to be so elitist”

If Hadfield’s vision has supported the jewel of diversity that The Big West has become, it is surely also a reflection of the extraordinary nature of Footscray and its environs in regard to ethnic diversity. Where else in the world would you find 135 different nationalities of people living in a suburb that is only 5km in diameter? Melbourne is home to a day-to-day cultural diversity that leaves London and Manhattan island standing at the line.

Hadfield says “The West is a Sara Lee of communities. Layer upon layer that goes back to the first migrations, with large populations of Vietnamese, East African, Indian with the original Greek and Italian people. I wouldn’t really say there is a political aim in the festival, I would say it is more about inclusion…there was a real desire to get more audiences together”.

The Big West home page cites how the festival was originally established to address issues of geographic, cultural and social isolation of residents. Hadfield comments that many of the issues Footscray faces are universal but particularly pertinent in the western suburbs of Melbourne; “violence on the streets…disaffection…young people trying to find their place”.

To mitigate Footcray’s crime issues such as violence on the streets, a scheme called Project Reduction was implemented in 2006 by the police. Under the scheme, Project Reduction essentially entailed police making a request to the Magistrate’s court for offenders who fit specific criteria to have a condition attached to their court order that prohibits them from entering the city of Maribyrnong for a prescribed period of time. It was attempt to ban drug offenders, as well as burglars, shoplifters and people with assault convictions if they are found to be drug addicted or gang related.

For the first time, this year Hadfield chose a theme to unite the festival - Home is Where the Heart Is.

“ I don’t normally go for themes and this one was quite broad. Actually putting that idea out into the world then seeing artists came back to me in response to that theme was interesting”.

Hadfield says that the unusual diversity of the population means that “I am not expecting everybody to engage with everything but there will be at least one or maybe two things that they can respond to”.

I asked her whether she had seen any examples of social benefits brought about by the festival.

“I suppose my job is finding ways to engage people with the arts and try to change the Anglo-European perspective on what the arts is and listen to the people from these communities who don’t even consider themselves artists, or is not even a term they would use. I really enjoy facilitating artists in being able to present their work. The festival is a great context in which to do that... The artists do often suddenly stand up a bit straighter. Prouder”.

The Anglo-European notion of artist as Genius can be pernicious in the wrong context; a cunning way of claiming superiority of one culture’s art forms over another’s. However, when the term artist is shared around a community’s creative top-shots and bestowed on normally marginalised members of society, it can do wonders for self esteem! In the case of The Big West, Footscray can see itself in all its multifarious richness and glory through the showcase of its festival. Comparable in some ways to Notting Hill Festival in London, the opportunity it provides is to display true creative gusto. The festival gives a boost where it is needed to creative confidence and provides a much needed mirror to the uniquely multi-cultural beauty Footscray harbours.