Can You Tell Me How To Get To Eveleigh Street? An interview with Reko Rennie

 

 

Can You Tell Me How To Get To Eveleigh Street?

an interview with Reko Rennie 

I caught up with Rennie between coats of paint on the last day of his project for the Eora Journey, a City of Sydney project that aims to communicate local indigenous stories through a series of public artworks. Rennie’s work distinct work, Welcome to Redfern, was made possible through the energy, ideas and enthusiasm of a select group of young Redfern locals, now budding street artists in their own right.   

MG: Your background is in graffiti and street art, how has this helped with stuff you’ve doing here in Redfern with these kids?

RR: They can see someone who has come from a similar background to them expressing themself in contemporary mediums like stencil, markers and spray paint, which they love. I came from a place that was just like this, the Western suburbs of Melbourne used to be really dodgy, everyone was working class and poor, and it had huge issues with drugs and crime. I didn’t go to art school, New York graffiti got me inspired in the Eighties and as a teen I started tagging and doing graff. These kids see an Aboriginal dude expressing himself in mediums they relate and using imagery that isn’t necessarily what everyone thinks you should be doing.

A lot of the time there is the authenticity bullshit in Aboriginal art, that artists should be doing dots or a particular style to be considered authentic. That is just one region and there are 260 different language groups each with their own cultural and artistic practices, so not every community does dots. 

MG: And often the urban story is neglected, being seen as not as valid?

RR: That’s right, so part of this process has been about raising awareness and educating these kids about what is their contemporary identity and how they can use contemporary mediums to express this. They can see that this is just as authentic as any other Aboriginal art.

MG: Artists like Richard Bell and Vernon Ah Kee come to mind.

RR: Exactly, and that you can get away with saying stuff by using art as a powerful voice to inform and raise awareness.

MG: Especially for teenagers, from all walks, there can be hesitation about articulating what they’re feeling.

RR: We workshopped the imagery all together to come up with a contemporary representation of Aboriginal youth by these future leaders, so this is their vision of Redfern and the community now.

MG: The also artwork references what has gone before, like the paintings up at the train station and the flag on the gym wall, both local icons.

RR: Of course, so we never set out to replicate or replace anything that is already here because everything has its place and they are all beautiful. This work is a representation of these kid’s lives now, in the 21^st century.

MG: And importantly, the kids are developing technical skills and their own aesthetic?

RR: They are all stenciling, spraying and marking, they are learning to express themselves through different mediums and they have this visual voice now. It’s been an honor for me to be part of it; it’s really not my artwork, I’m just the vehicle to show them how.

MG: The role of art is to express and communicate, how does this public work continue this conversation?

RR: Art gives you voice and in particular with issues relating to us there are so many things to talk about, positive and negative and art is a great medium to raise these issues in a public environment. That is also why I love working outdoors, because you’re not limited to a particular clientele. I don’t call myself a street artist because I’m not active in the scene anymore, but that is where I came from and public artwork is a beautiful thing.     

Interview with Dr. Rebecca Huntley: Gen Y, leadership and the arts

    

 Dr Rebecca Huntley is a researcher and author with a background in publishing, academia and politics. She holds degrees in law and film studies and a PhD in Gender Studies.

Rebecca is a social researcher and an Executive Director of The Mind and Mood Report, Australia's longest running social trends report. She is the author of three books, The World According to Gen Y: Inside the New Adult Generation, Eating Between the Lines: food and equality in Australia, and her most recent memoir, The Italian Girl. 

When Rebecca isn’t talking to Australians about their lives, she is working on her fiction and non-fiction projects, cooking and knitting.

We can’t have it all. Gen Y has seen that with the Gen X’ers. With this in mind, do you think Gen Y will have a more lifestyle-orientated approach to career and social goals?

Absolutely. We are seeing this already in both young men and women in Gen Y even before they get married and have kids. The desire for a life outside work, activities that promote health and wellbeing, travel, time with friends, passions and a like-long commitment to learning.

Gen Y characterizes the notion of the individual as his or her own brand identity. How do you see this unfolding within setting of large corporations and companies where you are just a number, where the individual is discouraged in favor of the collective personality of the workplace? Do you think there will be cultural and organisational revisions to allow for this?

Yes, we can already see this in terms of how consumers, younger and older, are using social media and creating their own content, lobbying or bypassing big media and corporations.

On the contrary, do you think the self-confidence and can-do attitude of Gen Y will see a meaningful shift towards a more mobile, multi-skilled and self-determined workforce?

Yes but only the very skilled and very adaptable will thrive in this market. I worry that those without those skills will get duded along the way.

As a legacy of graduating high school and university during the decade of the crisis’s, crunches, recessions and downturns, Gen Y has, it’s fair to say, never experienced economic confidence that was a fixed feature for the Gen X’ers and Baby Boomers. How do you think this will result in the decades to come, as Gen Y’s start to become leaders in politics, business and culture?

The theory is they will be more flexible and adaptable but again the comment above still holds true. Will Aussie Gen Y’s still support the idea of a social safety net for those who aren’t on the upside of the changing economy?

From your observations, what do you think it takes to be an effective and influential leader in the creative and cultural industries of today?

Passion. Education. The ability to take risks. And again, adaptability.

Gemaine Greer’s advice to women is to stop cleaning, or just do once a month at the most. What’s your advice to young women, who want big, satisfying careers as well as big, fulfilling lives?

Choose a supportive partner! Realise there will be tides in your career, big waves and little ones, so learn how to body surf and don’t get dumped when you aren’t paying attention. Be honest but assertive with your employer. Lean in as Cheryl tells us.

Last question, you can choose any piece of art in the world to own. What will it be?

Guernica. I would then sell it and fill my house with less expensive but nevertheless important work by Italian futurists like Giorgio Morandi and Giocoma Balla. Also a few Emily Kame Kngwarreyes please.