14
02 May 2016
Samoa invited to weave stars
Australia Samoa Newspaper
Samoa invited to weave stars for One Million Stars to End
Violence arts installation for the 2018 Commonwealth Games
S
amoan Australian and weaving
artist, Maryann Talia Pau, is currently in Samoa to promote her
international community arts project, One
Million Stars to End Violence. For her initial
visit, Maryann is inviting locals to her artist
talks and star weaving workshops with the
hope of helping to establish a Star Weave
Community – a community of star weavers pledging to weave and collect 10,000
stars.
“Every man, woman and child around
the world is welcome to learn how to weave
these simple and beautiful symbols of light,
courage and solidarity.” The stars are being collected by Maryann for a spectacular
arts installation for the Games in just under
2 years from now. “Stars from Samoa, my
island home, would be very special indeed.
It shows that they are just as dedicated
and passionate about ending all forms of
physical and psychological violence and
that they are keen to support the arts as a
powerful platform to discuss critical issues
like ending violence against women.”
First launched in 2012, as a personal
response to the escalating racial, domestic and family violence, it was the rape and
murder of ABC journalist Jill Meagher that
sparked the artist’s imagination to see one
million stars in a stellar installation. “One
Million represents how enormous this work
is, and that collaboration and courage is
vital for this installation to be a success.”
The Queensland Government launched
the project in February as its first cultural and community collaboration for the
GC2018 arts and cultural program. “I’m
thrilled that they see the power of community engagement through art and that
they are supporting my travel across the
Commonwealth this year, including Samoa,
Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati, the UK and Canada,
to share the project and run star weaving
workshops for locals to share throughout
their communities. My goal is to invite as
many people as possible to weave stars, to
connect our light and years of work to build
peaceful, just and creative communities.
Through Star Weave Communities, we give
others ownership to apply the message of
light, courage and solidarity to their context. Communities know what their issues
are and what needs to be done. The stars
are a simple beautiful way to showcase
their resilience, healing and stories; that
we care and want safety for everyone.”
“There are lots of ways for people to get
involved, including weaving individually
or as a Star Weave Community. It’s fun to
weave with others and easier to reach your
goal as well! Include your sporting clubs,
faith communities, schools or have a workplace lunch and get your star weave on.”
Maryann is in Samoa for this week to
promote her project and anticipates another visit in November as part of the 16 Days
of Activism.
Workshops and artist talk are scheduled
for Wednesday 13 April, 2pm-4pm and
Saturday 16 April 12pm-2pm at Vanya
Taule’alo Gallery and is supported by UN
Women. Materials provided. Please bring
scissors. Please RSVP your interest with an
email to [email protected] or text
7266264.
To register your interest in establishing a
Star Weave Community, complete the registration form at www.onemillionstars.net
and email to [email protected]
For other ways to get involved, please visit
the website for more information.