Jacky Cheng is currently working with the community of Margaret River. This residency forms part of one of Spaced’s current programs, Rural Utopias.

Jacky Cheng is an artist and an art educator based in Broome, Western Australia. Cheng's work is fundamentally about identity and awareness through cultural activities  and memories of home; country and relationships. Her significant concern are about correlating and weaving narratives from her native experiences whilst mapping the esoteric and social relationships of her origins and her new found home, environment and social surroundings.

Here, Jacky shares an update from Margaret River.

Down Redgate Road, turn right onto Caves Road, right to Boodjidup Road and all the way into town – a journey that involves an intrinsic visual recognition identifying the curves, bends and dips of the road keeping me very alert all the way. I even recognised natural markers along the road to assure myself that I am driving in the right direction – my preferred route to town. Two weeks past and by now, I’ve made some new friends, invited over for cups of tea (lots of it), having conversations on general topics about home, regional life, and community. The notion of Rural Utopia (or the future) was very much embedded in everyone’s hopes and dreams to what some perceive as the long road ahead and some even proclaimed to be living it now. Other themes such as conservation, regeneration, social economy, quality jobs, social innovation, housing, and ecological footprints and climate change keeps reoccurring intermittently with more cups of tea. I suppose the tendency to suggest one theme is more important than the other is absurd as they are all inter-dependent and very much in the forefront of our minds and of course the current national and global political climate did not escape the trail of our conversations.

By the third week, I’ve generated some traction for the second Orizome workshop with great enthusiasm from the community. For some, it was their first time folding, dyeing, and stitching to which it must feel either daunting or a revelation. The week followed by another new workshop for the community, presentations about the residency at the library and invitations to connect with local artists and community members. My schedule is packed. I am a bit of a workshop-giver addict. Maybe my teaching background heavily contributed to this love of being amongst the action and skill sharing. So, I offered 2 additional free sessions of Japanese Stab Stitch Book binding workshop to get to know individuals in a smaller setting and with structure. Francesco from Margaret River Printmaking Studio offered his neat little space within the industrial area sandwiched between two other working studios.

The skatepark in Margaret River is quite something. I think all towns should have a skatepark this size! Every Thursday and Friday, Jacqueline Ashworth, local roller skate mentor, experienced youth worker, multi-disciplinary artist provides a drop-in outreach service for youth through the Skate park facility – zone room. I hung out for a few hours with them demonstrating the Orizome techniques. Sky River is also another local artist and puppeteer who champions and tailor programs for young adults with disabilities with her focus on both performing and visual arts. Between the both, the energy in the zone room is electrifying – young adults working together, problem solving, discussions, making art, negotiating… let’s just say it is truly an inspiring sight.

I was excited to attend a couple of events during the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival. I was particularly looking forward to walking with a Wadandi Cultural Custodian Iszaac (Waalitj) Webb along the Woodijup Bilya (Rivermouth, Margaret River) where he shared stories of family, sand, sea, and bush tucker garden (Merenj Boodja). One of the key points (and a very salient one) of the abundance of bush food around is about maintaining biodiversity and eating when they are abundant and in season. Iszaac encouraged us to try some of the bush food with him. “Make sure your guide eats it first before you do, to make sure he’s not playing a prank on you” he joked. We consume way too much as a modern society.  My hasty decision-making process sometimes led me to making poor choices in supermarkets, all for the sake of convenience. I collected my 2 week’s plastic waste (see photo) – shame on me.  

Meeting Dr Rashida Murphy was next in my itinerary. Early this year, I read The Bonesetter’s Fee and Other Stories. The book explores themes of identity, superstition and myth and links her cultural legends and customs to modern Australian society. An intimate group of approximately 15 people shared a discussion with her at the Margaret River Library. I relayed an experience with Dr Rashida about my arrival as a migrant and confronted with all sorts of self-discovery in a new place including social navigation. Yes, that one poignant scenario when someone invited me to a self-catered party ‘just bring a plate’, well, I did just that - literally just a plate.  The situation left me thinking about how we connect with words and how this new knowledge (the plate incident) enlightened and forced me to adapt to colloquial cues.  

I was invited over to Deb Chambers and David Galloway’s bush property. The notion ‘buy nothing new’ is not an alien concept to me but it is always refreshing to see how and what others do with their found discarded items and gloriously giving them another life. Deb and Dave are what I call model citizens. They’ve lived in Margaret River for more than 30 years and are ever ready to help anyone.  We’ve talked a lot about our role in community, the influx of arrival of new residents into town, mental health, trauma in the community and other horrifying natural disasters, creative endeavours and the one thing that always circle back to our conversation is the volunteering community. Community volunteerism is the ultimate form of civic engagement. They genuinely care and demonstrate commitment about sharing, progressing, giving back to society, and helping the community grow. They both relayed the story of the recent Boronup fire incident in late 2021 and previous one in 2011 as a constant reminder to protecting the ecosystem, the environment, and the mental health of community – something that bears a deep emotional connection to people who lives on the land. I went for a walk at Redgate beach and the charred landscape draws your eyes to acknowledge its ‘nakedness’; not a desolate landscape, not at all - a sign of hope, strength and resilience.

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