Home West

18 to 20 August
The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre

Blacktown Arts and 107 Projects are proud to announce Home West over three days at The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre from 18 to 20 August. Boasting a lineup of workshops, performances, and immersive experiences the program features visual arts workshops by artists Fozia Zahid and Abdullah M I Syed, an evening of poetry by the Dorr’e Dari crew from PYT Fairfield, and a day of performances and interactive activities and appearances by  features appearances by Uncle Wes Marne, Jannawi Dance Clan, Suara Indonesia Dance, Agal Dance, Tokelau Dancers, Mohammed Lelo and James Tawadros, The Peacemakers Ensemble. FBi Radio presents live music from True Vibenation and Gabby Nacua, and a very special live broadcast of The Snacc Pacc, delivering the latest music out of western Sydney and beyond!

DJ’s Kristelle and Bare Necessities will be bringing the tunes and good vibes all afternoon. There’ll be weaving with Tarni Eastwood, dance and henna workshops with Bindi Bosses (limited spots!), and drop-in street art workshops with Western Sydney Murals, hair braiding with Eden Stylz and stencilling with Faraimo Paulo.

Home West is a perfect family-friendly event to celebrate western Sydney’s incredible array of artists.

Home West is presented by Blacktown Arts, 107 Projects as part of Blacktown Day+Night with Blacktown City Council.

Gathering Honey

18 to 31 August 2022
Warrick Lane, Blacktown

See our City through the eyes of artists and filmmakers from western Sydney and beyond as they share stories of family, ceremony and migration in Gathering Honey, an intimate screen and sound program as part of Home West.

Featuring work by Uncle Wes Marne (Dreamtime Story, 2021), Darug Custodian Aboriginal Corporation (Lullaby, 2021), Agal Dance (Our Country, 2019), Shivanjani Lal, (Baaro Part 1, 2020),  Jagath Dheerasekara (excerpt from Break the Cinnamon Branch, 2020), Curiousworks (The Princess and the Bird, Meet+Eat, 2014), PYT Fairfield (Jawad Cooking Lamb Shorba, 2014), Mustafa al Mahdi (Ashat Edich, 2021), Liliana Occhiuto (Heroines Heritage, 2022, presented by PYT Fairfield) Jason Phu (Videos for the grandchildren I’ll never have, 2019) and Justine Youssef (Under the table I learnt how to feed you, 2019/20), Gathering Honey is a celebration of home.

Gathering Honey premiered at Australian National Maritime Museum for Vivid Sydney in May/ June 2022.

As part of the program Gathering Honey Blacktown Arts invites you to listen to episode one of Heroines Heritage (2022) titled Melissa by Liliana Occhiuto, a podcast honouring the lives of heroic female figures within the Fairfield region.

Home West: Visual Art Workshops

6 pm to 8 pm
Thursday 18 August
The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre

Home West brings you two interactive workshops from unique artists, Fozia Zahid – a local Blacktown artist specialising in the intricate process behind oil painting miniatures and the history of the style, and Abdullah M I Syed, a western Sydney-based artist who draws inspiration from his mother’s life, and the regimes of care and maintenance that form the bonds of love, to create rose petal silhouette portraits.

Cost: $10 + booking fee

Home West: This Precious Pearl – A Poetry Salon with the cast from Dorr-e Dari

6.30 pm to 8.30 pm
Friday 19 August
The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre

The cast members of PYT Fairfield’s Dorr’e Dari: A Poetic Crash Course in the Language of Love present an evening of music, poetry and conversation. Join Hasiba Ebrahimi, Mahdi Mohammadi and Jawad Yaqoubi in a celebration of poetry, from the streets of Kabul, Tehran and Quetta to Blacktown and beyond.

Participants are encouraged to submit a poem to be shared at the event.

COST: $10 + booking fee

Home West: Festival Day

1 pm to 7 pm
Saturday 20 August
The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre

Join us on Saturday 20 August at as we celebrate the incredible local talent of western Sydney artists in a day-long event comprising interactive workshops, performances, a live radio broadcast and immersive experiences for the whole family. Bringing together a collection of artists from Our Place at Australian National Maritime Museum for Vivid Sydney 2022, and a suite of acts in partnership with FBi Radio, Blacktown Arts and 107 Projects invite you to spend a day with the City’s finest local artists and creatives.

Home West: Agal Dance from Our Place 2022, by Hypereel
Gathering Honey: The Princess and the Bird, Meet+Eat 2014, courtesy of Curiousworks
Home West Hero Image: Blacktown Block Party, courtesy Nawealth Keo

Home West is presented by Blacktown Arts and Blacktown City Council in partnership with 107 Projects and FBi Radio.