New Moon - Yanada Room activiation
New Moon is a community based collective made up of four strong and innovative women, Kim Siew, Amy Mills, Rosell Flatley and Eleni Christou. They came together through collaborating on community art projects, artist run initiatives and exhibition spaces and have a common vision of delivering work driven by a passion for community development, art, self-expression, empowerment and equality.
What is the current creative project you’re working on and what is the inspiration behind it? At the start of July we moved into the Yanada Room in Lewisham, with an aim of creating a welcoming and inclusive community space that stimulates positive connections through skill sharing workshops, events and space for creativity for all ages. Paying tribute to the meaning of ‘Yanada’ in Dharug language, New Moon channels the monthly renewal of the moon with tailored programming around key themes of Food, Storytelling, Sustainability, Arts and Craft.
The inspiration behind the project came from our collective passion and vision for community engagement and creativity. Long before we formed our community based collective New Moon, we were friends. For years we have been working with each other on different artistic projects within the inner west and beyond, so the creation of New Moon was just a natural evolution of our friendship. From the very start of this project the ideas have flowed out of each of us, and together we have built upon each other’s creativity. Nothing is unachievable because we had the support of each other.
We have now been in the space for over a month and in that time, we have held over five workshops and five events, including our community dinner and open day. New Moon will be in the Yanada Room until December and we have a lot more planned for the next five months so watch this space.
What drives your creativity? Our creativity comes from each other and the artistic community within the inner west. Each of us comes from a different creative field and background, and that diversity, shared knowledge, skills and history produces a lot of inspiration. We call upon each other for support and advice knowing that creativity can come through our connections.
But it is the wider inner west community that is overflowing with creatives from artists, to poets, people who are passionate about creating social change within their communities. We are super excited about collaborating with our Artist in Residence neighbours, The Refugee Art Project founding member of The Refugee Art Project, Safdar Ahmed is currently co-exhibiting with Samuel Luke in the EMBODIED exhibition at New Moon, plus we have zines by members of The Refugee Art Project hanging in our window gallery this month. We are also screening short films by Safdar and The Refugee Art Project in October so stay tuned for more details! In September New Moon are hosting a full day of programming for the Unspoken Words Festival - check their website for more details!
What artists/others have most inspired or influenced you – and why? There are so many amazing artists, individuals and collectives that inspire us, but if we had to choose just one, we would look close to home at our new neighbours, the Refugee Art Project who are the current artists in residence in Ashfield’s Thirning Villa. We are truly humbled by the work of Safdar and the Refugee Art Project team. The Inner West is so lucky to host such an amazing collective and safe space for artists of refugee background to create and showcase their work.
What messages are you aiming to communicate through your work? That creativity and inclusiveness is important within our community.
Will you be undertaking any talks/presentations/special events as part of this event? New Moon’s activation of the Yanada Room will take place over six months from July to December 2018. In this time, we will be hosting regular monthly workshops:
Kafe As Poume: Serving up complimentary Cypriot style coffee to visitors and neighbours of New Moon.
Storytime & Mini Grooves: Hear a new story each month, then move and sing with your little one. Children 2-5 with parents and/or carers, newborns welcome.
Book Bind & Unwind: A space to meet other book geeks! Learn Saddle Stitch and how to make a nifty book pocket, or bring along your own book project.
Zine Making: A fun and approachable hands-on workshop open to everyone, from children and their parents, to teenagers to adults.
Yarn & Stitch: A creative space for all craft and fibre lovers to come together in a friendly environment and share projects, skills and laughter.
Creative Dinner: A gathering of creative people to share a meal, ideas and projects once a month. Bring a plate to share.
At New Moon each month has a special theme, August is all about the art of storytelling. We will be highlighting creative storytelling methods and hosting specialty workshops and events centred around this theme, such as how to set up your own podcast, kid’s puppet making and a book swap towards the end of the month. Our gallery artists this month are Safdar Ahmed and Samuel Luke, who use comic style illustration to tell their stories. Everyone can keep up to date on more speciality workshops and our gallery exhibitions via our Instagram and Facebook page where we release a new calendar each month.
What is your next project? We have been super busy planning and designing the dressing of the Ashfield Civic Centre Foyer, Hall and forecourt for the upcoming Edge Festival in September. Channelling both the colourful vibrancy of the Edge Festival and the arrival of Spring, New Moon are bringing the Ashfield Civic Centre to life with a Folkloric Floral inspired display blooming throughout the space and immersing visitors in the colours and shapes of Spring.
What are you future goals? Our future goal is to keep working together on different creative projects, within Sydney. We want to keep delivering programming that is innovative, sustainable, ethical, creative and fun. New Moon is really about creative collaboration and if we can keep doing that we will be really happy!
What is your favourite place in the inner west to work or wind down? That’s a very hard one to answer as there are so many great places, and we would each have a different answer, but collectively I think we can definitely say New Moon! But here are some of our other favourites:
Amy: I love Callan Park! I have a little puppy named Boots and he loves Callan Park. I take him almost every weekend and it just seems like there is always something new to explore each time we go. I love that this park is in the middle of Sydney and I didn’t even know about it for years, it’s a hidden gem. Also, I love Delish in Marrickville for a tasty pork roll after our walk!
Eleni: I also love Callan Park, especially the Community and Refugee Welcome Centre - there are so many special things happening in that space. The Gasoline Pony in Marrickville is my favourite all rounder for music, food, drinks and great atmosphere. Dancing at Amera’s Palace is my favourite place to unwind.
Kim: Sydney Park is a favourite of mine. Taking my dog for a walk around the wetlands area and sitting ontop of the hill looking over Sydney is the perfect spot for contemplation. I love riding my bike around all the back lanes of Newtown, Enmore and Marrickville too. There’s always new artworks taking shape and preloved treasures to be found!
Rosell: My family and I love having dinner at the Henson Hotel at Marrickville . My kids love the playground, meeting new friends, petting dogs and for us parents, we love our craft beer. Sydney and Callan Park are our favourite parks!
Facebook Link: facebook.com/newmoon.yanada/
Instgram: @newmoon.yanada