Stories - Hatching Nest
Community stories about nature and the environment
Project Background
This Left Bank – Living Arts Project was designed and facilitated by local Brisbane Artist, Sharmila Nezovic and sponsored by Redland Arts Council. The brief was to develop an interactive arts experience for 2011’s festival goers of all ages, encouraging awareness of the wonders of the natural environment.
What is the Stories - Hatching Nest?
A magical space, made by the community, in which to share stories about nature and the environment. A ‘people-sized’ nest, with strong walls, able to withstand gusts of wind and constructed by a process of weaving and tying the materials. A structure built in such a way that participants would feel secure when they stepped inside the ritualised ‘performance’ area.
Key Materials
To construct the walls of the nest, huge piles of natural bush litter were collected prior to the weekend and only from the Redlands Indigiscapes Centre. We used lots of branches and twigs and slabs of bark and heaps of rope-like monkey vine. We also acquired bags-full of clean, recycled industrial materials (from Reverse Garbage), to help decorate and secure the nest walls.
Telling and Listening to Stories
Family groups were encouraged to enter the Stories-Hatching Nest, with one member sharing a story about nature and the environment, while one of the listeners wrote out the story-teller's story. People were encouraged not to write their own story. If you couldn’t write yet, then you could draw the story you heard. People had the option to take their story home with them, or leave them with us to write out and place on the Centre’s web-page after the event was over.
Written Stories
It is intended that all Stories - Hatching Nest stories that have been compiled for this web page for all to read, have been copied out as they were written – lengths of lines and spelling and case-sensitive – all reproduced as originally written. Picture Stories and drawings have also been described.
NOTE: The wide variety of genres that resulted, range from: listed feelings; to poetry; to scientific facts and observations; to imaginative fiction; to gardening tips; to conservation statements; to personal responses to the ‘Nest’s’ process; to collaborative compositions; etc.
Enjoy!
By Family (mixed ages)
We love Nature because it runs in a cycle.
Like the frog:
- the frog lays the egg
- a tadpole comes from the egg
- the tadpole turns into a frog
- the frog lays an egg…
- and so on and so on forever…
By Luke (8 and half years old)
Written out all by himself
[Picture Story: Drawing of a large tree with arrows and words:]
Bad air goes in
Good air goes out
Grass is a good soft layer on
the ground
Daniel (aged 5)
[Picture Story: Drawing of a tree, with a small stick figure]
Daniel’s verbal explanation:
This is a big tree with someone sitting under it reading a book. Because paper comes from trees
Hamish & Riley (aged 3)
Nature is a place where we can run around and play.
It is green and a place where all the animals play as well.
Charlee-Ann H (aged 6)
in child’s handwriting
There was a possum and it had
two babies the nest made
out of twigs. The babies liked it
They loved their home as it made them feel
beautiful and warm. It was made from nature
Emily and Jade (both aged 5)
Emily
My favourite nature thing is ‘LIVING’
and ‘LOVING’ and HUGGING.
I like kangaroo, koalas and Bats.
A big thank you to everyone who joined in for making the Stories - Hatching Nest such a wonderfully creative community experience.