Rural Utopias Residency: Sarah Rodigari in Ravensthorpe #5

Sarah Rodigari is currently working with the community of Ravensthorpe. This work forms part of one of Spaced’s current programs, Rural Utopias.

Sarah Rodigari is an artist whose practice addresses the social and political potential of art. Her work is site responsive, employing, durational live action, improvisation, and dialogical methodologies to produce text-based performance and installations.

Her Assistant Producer on this project, Emily Dawn, is a writer specialising in design, sustainability and sensory experiences by way of arts programming. Now located in the picturesque town of Hopetoun, Western Australia, Emily is studying Youth Work alongside the teens in town as she furthers her connection with arts, agriculture, and environment in this critical period of change. 

Here, Emily shares an update on behalf of the program.

Hopetoun hangs on the edge of the South West coastline of Western Australia, and is part of the ‘Goldfields’ region. It’s a remote beach town situated 200km West of Esperance — our nearest source of supermarket and hardware stores. Famed globally for the Fitzgerald River National Park, the Ravensthorpe Shire is etched with history, arts, mining booms and wildflower blooms. At this time of year the farmland boasts seas of yellow canola and cereal crops nurtured by generations of farmers. Yet the town's current population peak of 1200 residents reflects the vast depths of nickel, lithium and gold that line careers for families and young people from far and wide. In many ways, Hopetoun is a treasure trove of opportunity, and for me, a place to heal.

Moving remotely for my partner's work in medicine was an opportunity to unfurl a new path. We could go anywhere on the GP training list. Thursday Island? Learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture would be fruitful to no end but the simmering weather would wear me thin. Charleville? Mm... I could see myself working at the Cosmos Centre, but so inland, so remote… Hopetoun? Against the Indian Ocean, cool breeze, next door to a National Park... We chose beachy bush land and packed up life in Brisbane to arrive in Hopey for January this year.

In terms of the healing, my ailments were not physical or visible but laced with disconnection. I was at odds with the state of social media, the blinkers they apply and the emotions we internalise by peering into windows of digital worlds. With the move interstate I decided to release the chains of Facebook and Instagram, places I haven’t been since the turn of the new year. Moving to Hopetoun provided a renewal. I wanted to devote time and space to nature and to use technology with intent.

After three weeks in town I found part-time work in the local Community Resource Centre (library, information hub, gift store) so as to meet and connect with the community. The role was tied to a traineeship in Youth Work which aligned with my current inspiration — teens navigating a tangible life in the digital age. Hareesh and I both found purpose and it was time to get to work.

Enter Sarah Rodigari, a visiting artist in residency from Sydney. She presented at the front desk of the CRC on arrival of her third visit. She told me she was collecting stories and moving images about ‘Rural Utopias’, weaving a visual text across four installments. Immediately curious about her work and plans I left her my number and an invitation to borrow more warm clothing as it was cold that week in May. I found a kindred spirit and in the wake of her visit I was asking locals, “Have you met Sarah?” — sure that my new friend was not shy of words, or people, and there were many stories to note. A natural connector, Sarah had already met most of my sources, colourful characters that paint the town.

While the CRC hosts notice boards and posters around town for events, most activities and connections revolve around Facebook communication. Without a profile to link to myriad groups and pages it’s difficult to stay in the know. Most people will uncover something personal about themselves when asked intimately. Are we losing that curiosity for intentional conversation?  The reality of the Shire that Sarah uncovered could be considered an absolute polarity to the Hopetoun/Ravensthorpe Community page on Facebook. There was depth found in questions that can’t be formed in status updates. In 2022, our inherent desire to tell stories and share experiences can squeeze into a feed of brief comments, highlights and heated replies.

Living in a remote location is a rich experience, we have access to space and become close friends with time. Living in a “Rural Utopia”, to me, is an acute connection to a life well curated, connected — imbued with meaningful activities and care for attention.