Living library - where people are the books
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Living Book Shaykh Ibrahim al Ansari with Reader at The Living Library in Lawson 2008.
Harmony Day will kick off in Springwood on March 20, 2009 with an array of multicultural activities and the welcome return of ‘The Living Library’, where people replace the books.
Mayor, Cr Adam Searle, said “Harmony Day provides an opportunity for us to celebrate our successes as a culturally diverse society, re-commit ourselves to harmony and say ‘no’ to racism.”
Since its inception in 1999 Harmony Day has grown into Australia’s biggest annual multicultural event. Harmony Day is held during the month of March and in the Blue Mountains it will be held on 20 March, which coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March.
The third Harmony Day celebration hosted by Blue Mountains City Council will feature the Living Library, which will be open in the Springwood Civic Centre from 1:00pm - 4:00pm (Springwood Civic Centre in the case of bad weather) followed by a free concert in the Springwood School of Arts Square from 5:00pm.
Mayor Searle stated, “The Living Library is a unique opportunity to borrow a person rather than a book and have a conversation about the remarkable lives and learning of local residents.”
Harmony Day activities include an exhibition of art work created by local multicultural residents developed through the ‘Nature Through Fresh Eyes’ and the ‘Landmarks and Keepsakes’ projects. There will be screenings of the ‘100 Women Dancing in The Gully’ project, which was developed at The Gully Aboriginal Place, Katoomba and gives Blue Mountains residents an opportunity to experience and gain a greater understanding of the ancient cultural heritage of the land.
The Harmony Day concert will start with the ‘Welcome to Country’ and the Yarringan Dancers. The Yarringan Dancers, established in 2008 by local Contemporary Indigenous Dance Artist Jo Clancy, perform Contemporary Aboriginal Dance and have toured communities throughout the Central West of NSW and will feature at the 2009 Festival of the Dreaming in Woodford (Queensland) in June.
Also performing at the concert will be Ritmo, the duo of Jane Andino on Latin/jazz piano and Ricardo Andino, a flamenco /classical guitarist and singer.
Ritmo will be followed by the internationally renowned world musicians Mara and Llew Kiek with special guest Jonathon Xue. Llew and Mara Kiek are leaders in the fields of world music and early music in Australia, and are best known for their multi-award winning world music ensemble ‘Mara!’ and Bulgarian style women’s choir ‘Martenitsa’. They have performed, recorded and broadcast in 21 countries across Europe, Asia and North America since 1984, and their long list of CD credits include 2 ARIA winners and 2 ARIA final nominees. Chinese flautist Jonathan Xue is originally from Shanghai and was a director, composer and performer with the Shanghai Peking Opera Company and has performed at Government House, Sydney. Jonathon has been a resident of the Blue Mountains for ten years and performed for our first Harmony Day concert in Katoomba in 2007. This is a rare opportunity for Blue Mountains residents to see these world class musicians in concert.
The final performance will be a fusion of didgeridoo and drums with Aboriginal artist Graham King from the Ngiyampaa and Wiradjuri people on the didgeridoo and Peter Kennard bringing his vast experience of many different musical styles to the drums. This performance will exemplify the spirit of the day.
Mayor Searle concluded, “The aim of both the Living Library and Harmony Day is to build community appreciation and respect for cultural diversity in the Blue Mountains. Promoting social inclusiveness goes hand in hand with the Blue Mountains City Council’s commitment to preserving the region’s social heritage.”
The Living Library is a partnership project between Libraries, Community Outcomes and Cultural Connexions.
For further information on Harmony Day Activities, please contact Ruth Caro on (02) 4780 5653.