By Tyler Wright
On October 29 last year, 21-year-old Willow Swaneveld saw her family home in Cockatoo completely destroyed by a fallen tree during a storm event.
The Star Mail previously reported on the show of community support for Willow’s family, helping raise funds for rental accommodation.
But to this day, the house and its remains sit un-demolished on the property, “rotting away” and looking “less and less like a house every day,” Willow said.
“Being able to share my story through this art, and through this festival, it’s kind of taking the power away from the event and given me a little bit of control, which is huge.”
The festival Willow is referring to is The Big Anxiety; a creative response to aid the escalating mental health crisis produced by RMIT Culture in collaboration with Yarra Ranges Council, and presented in partnership with UNSW Sydney and RMIT University.
Along with other young people in the Yarra Ranges, Willow participated in the augmented reality project Hard Place/Good Place; inviting the viewer into the lived experience of the June and October storm events in the area.
3D scans were taken of Willow’s family home, and she was able to share the story of trauma she wanted told as part of the process.
“I’m appreciative of the chance to tell it. I think that letting people know that it happened and it’s not just wood that needs to be cleaned up, but it’s people’s lives that are affected, not just their houses,” Willow said.
“So much happens behind the scenes that you don’t even think about, so to be able to spread the word, or awareness towards the people behind the catastrophe…it’s a lot deeper than just smashed windows and bricks and mortar.”
Launching on Friday 30 September at the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum in Lilydale, The Big Anxiety is set to have a significant impact on Yarra Ranges residents as they work through the mental health and wellbeing impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic combined with the damaging storms of 2021.
“I just hope that people feel that this festival is a chance to be heard…to know that they’re not alone,” Willow said.
“And that no matter which exhibition that they’re going to go see, they’re going to get something out of it because it’s beautifully done.”
The launch of The Big Anxiety, showcasing projects that ask cultural, social and philosophical questions about what helps and hinders our collective mental health, coincides with National Mental Health Month.
The 2022 festival program is also co-directed by Scientia Professor Jill Bennett from UNSW Sydney and Professor Renata Kokanović from RMIT University.
“The arts are the best means we have for sharing complex experiences. It is a pathway that can show us what we may not know about ourselves and others, and it also shines a light on relationships and social settings that help or hinder mental health. We have seen evidence that the arts can make real and meaningful transformations and change,” Professor Bennett said.
The AR works are published online, and exhibited via The Big Anxiety Festival and The Big Reach in various locations.
“It’s nice to have a space that is about mental health awareness,” Willow added.
