Every culture, every community, every place, every time, every person, has a story to tell. Cultures, identities, countries, places — all these are meaningless without the stories that connect and give them significance, enable connections and shared experiences, bring people to a closer understanding. Storytelling is imperative. Timeless. Human.

In the digital age, technology is a vital mediator of representation. Television, film, radio, the Internet, mobile phones — all have the power to constrain and limit how, whether and whose stories get told and heard. For those with limited access to (or control over) the way they are represented, newer technologies have the potential to enable communication with each other and broader audiences on their own terms.

ICE's work is currently focused at the convergence of new media and the ancient practice of storytelling. Remembering Minto has been a crucial project because it records and publishes the stories and memories of lives, loves, highs and lows of people from Minto public housing estate.

Culture and Community

Our projects with communities are grounded in the practice of community cultural development (CCD). Challenging the notion that art and culture belong to the elite, CCD practice seeks to work with communities to open up dialogues, say what can’t be said, and empower communities in the process of creating something new.

This project adds to the body of ground-breaking work that has occurred over the years in artsbased community and storytelling projects in Western Sydney. Remembering Minto, and other storytelling projects ICE has undertaken with refugees and migrants, support communities to articulate their experiences of displacement, while supporting the emergence and awareness of writing that reflects the diversity of Australian stories and experience.

The development process entailed a number of workshops and events to gather stories in a collaborative and supportive environment. Hundreds participated in activities such as Australian Indigenous and Pacific Communities workshops, the Minto Storytelling Festival and Minto Through Our Eyes photo diary project. Throughout, the project coordinators, community writer, and Remembering Minto Group members undertook interviews and supported people to tell their stories.

All community cultural projects have their highs and lows, their struggles and their gains. By adhering to the fundamental principles of collaboration and openness, and sharing what has worked (and what has not), we improve ways of working with communities, learn from each other and develop new ways of working. And this ultimately strengthens and gives integrity to what we do.