Kicking off the White Shoes

 A New Promo!

Revelling in the Gold Coasts cultural changes

 Full length documentary premiere at the Gold Coast Film Festival on Sunday 22 April at 1pm, 2012. Australia Fair Cinemas. It was a cracking success, with a nearly full house and overwhelmingly positive responses. More screenings are in the planning and the DVD is available for purchase. Email: info@tigermonkeyproductions.com to order a copy.

 

ABC Online have a new article about the doco here

 

Welcome to Kicking off the White Shoes, a series of stories about inspiring people working in art, culture, and sustainability on the Gold Coast. These stories reveal the underground, not the underbelly of a changing city.

To get up to the minute info and updates, checkout Kicking off the White Shoes on Facebook.

Kicking off the White Shoes documentary promo.

The stories that follow come in a combination of video, photos and written articles. The stories profile just some of the many hidden heroes on the Gold Coast and celebrate the Gold Coast as a vibrant, artistic community with a diverse, soulful culture.

Kick off your shoes and read on…..

Kicking off the White Shoes – an introduction

By Jeff Licence

An edited version of this article was first published in the Gold Coast Bulletin on 5/10/11

A quiet cultural revolution is happening on the Gold Coast. New and old voices are finally being heard by our leaders in the corridors of power in this strange, beautiful city.

For a long time, the Gold Coast has sold itself as a place for parties, holidays, cheap land and endless development potential, through a collage of bright, big breasted tourism images that promise everyone a beer and a place in the sun. And yet, undermining these shiny images have been the shady development deals done through the white shoe brigade era from the 1950‘s to the 1980‘s. This vision of the Gold Coast as a combination of vacuous good times and voracious development has created a stereotype of our city as a tacky, superficial holiday village, open for exploitation.

For those of us who live here however, we know there is so much more to the story. While tourism and development are important economic drivers of the city, their prominence overshadows a diverse, creative and community driven culture.

For more Cultural Conversations….. check out the video below:

Part 1

Swell Rising - Photo by Jeff Licence

There are many cultural, art and community groups and events that operate on the Gold Coast that often go under the radar. We have at least 15 multicultural festivals across the city, celebrating the diversity of the region. There are a plentitude of art and craft groups, drama societies, music venues, dance academies and community arts organisations who mobilise an army of creative workers, volunteers and audiences.

Our proud indigenous community continue to foster their own culture while connecting with the broader community.

Dancing at the Bumehla Festival - Image from Kicking off the White Shoes doco

A number of environment groups educate and advocate to nurture and protect our amazing biodiversity. This hive of cultural activity makes an enormous contribution to the social and economic wellbeing of our city and breathes life into the culture of the Gold Coast, making it so much more than a tourist town and a developer’s paradise.

Over the last few years, I have been lucky enough to have interviewed just a few of these amazing, talented and inspiring people for a documentary called ‘Kicking off the White Shoes’. The people I’ve spoken to are working away quietly in art, environment, community and cultural development, adding depth, light and grace to what we locals know is a great city. In forthcoming articles, I will share some of their stories.

From speaking to these inspiring people, it’s obvious that the cultural heart of the Gold Coast is beating strongly, and it’s not just happening at a grass roots level.

The G.C.C.C are helping to establish a working group for an independent Arts Network to deliver a coordinated approach to artistic, cultural and economic development for the future.

Brainstorming for an Arts Hub on the Gold Coast

There is much talk of a Gold Coast cultural precinct being built. The new $26.9 million Coomera T.A.F.E campus has a creative industries focus aimed at connecting with the nearby Warner Brothers Film Studios and beyond.

The Gold Spaces, Creative Currumbin and Renew Southern Gold Coast initiatives are looking to utilise empty industrial and retail spaces in the area in ways that are rich in creative, economic and social benefits.

Swell sunrise - Photo by Jeff Licence

The upcoming Swell Sculpture festival and the new Bleach festival bring our love of art, beauty, surfing and the outdoors together in showcases of local, national and international talent.

The Bulletin Newspaper and Griffith University have come together to host the Turning Point Forum, a city shaping public process. A key outcome of these meetings has been the realisation that we need to nurture and promote our cities artistic, knowledge and cultural networks. The Arts Centre Gold Coast has long been an incubator for Arts practice and performance on the Gold Coast. And these are just some of the many cultural initiatives happening across the coast.

It seems that the penny has dropped in the corridors of power, that a city needs more than bricks and mortar to make it a vibrant, connected place of substance. To nurture creative communities, we need a strong, functioning and coordinated cultural realm made up of professionals, amateurs, volunteers, willing and active audiences and a proud and engaged community that fills the city with life and spirit. While all these elements exist in spades on the Gold Coast, perhaps it’s the cohesion, communication and coordination to bring these elements together that we have previously lacked.

A common theme that has emerged from the many people I’ve spoken to during my interviews, is that the Gold Coast has so much more to offer than it gives itself credit for. After all, the stories that we tell about ourselves have the power to create a reality, so lets kick off the white shoes and make the city of the Gold Coast loved and remembered for it’s vibrant community and cultural heart.

Kicking off the White Shoes

Article 2 – Profile of Dr. Sally MacKinnon

By Jeff Licence

An edited version of this article was first published in the Gold Coast Bulletin on 6/10/11

Sitting on the verandah of Sally MacKinnon’s eclectic little house high in the mountains of Binna Burra, is like being on top of the world. From up here, the Gold Coast looks like a blur of tiny dots through the clouds. Perhaps it’s this broad view that has helped Sally form such a global perspective on issues such as sustainability, environmental education and community activism.

Dr. Sally MacKinnon is an environmental consultant and activist, writer, poet, Doctor of Education and co founder of the Ethos Foundation. For over 20 years, Sally has volunteered and worked with communities, businesses, schools, artists and government across S.E.Q. She has been instrumental in the creation and promotion of local food markets that reduce food miles, education programs like ‘Waterwise’, and countless consultancy projects. She is just one of the many quiet achievers who bring life to our city, creating change at a structural and community level.

Sally grew up on the Gold Coast, attending St Hilda’s school and exploring the forests of her beloved Binna Burra Mountains. Her first foray into the environment movement was in 1989 when she heard David Suzuki speaking about the destruction of forests. “I think because I’d spent a lot of time bush walking around Binna Burra and coming to know a place very well, that talk of forest destruction really hit home.”

Inspired by Dr. Suzuki, Sally started a re-forestation project. This opened her eyes to the sheer enormity of the environmental challenges ahead, but also suggested an opportunity to her. Rather than just pushing environmental information at people, Sally realized she could inspire them into environmental action through art, community conversations and stories.

“Once you’ve heard the stories, once you know something is going wrong out there, you can’t un-know it, and that provides a springboard for people to get involved, because for most people it becomes an emotional issue. That’s why I’m so interested in the arts and creativity, because they provide the vehicles that enable us to develop an emotional connection to nature and then express our feelings about what’s going on out there.”

Once this connection is made, Sally feels that it’s important to connect people’s interests with something they can influence.

“Making young people aware of how they can influence the world for the better, whether it’s through computers, gardening, drama, music and then helping them into those pathways is where it’s at.”

One of Sally’s projects that uses art to develop a circle of influence is The Rim community art and ecology project in the Scenic Rim. It’s about connecting artists, scientists and communities to learn and express their love and connection to place.

“School children, toddlers, young people, mums and dads, grandparents have contributed so far, sharing creativity and love of the living landscapes together through painting, poetry and song. Our dream of crafting a series of creative love letters to our landscapes is certainly coming to life.”

Sally has also written a manuscript called Messages of Kindness which started as a series of letters to her son about the state of the planet and where we might go from here. She’s currently turning this into a blog and collaborating with young people to turn it into a book.

It is hard not to be inspired by Sally MacKinnon. In her quiet, self-effacing way, she’s has done much to champion the cause of nature. By combining her love and passion for our environment, catalyzing the creativity of the Gold Coast and Hinterland communities and leading the charge to action, Sally MacKinnon shows the potential we all have for making a difference on this small green planet.

For more information about the Ethos Foundation visit:

http://www.ethosfoundation.org/

To follow what’s happening with the Rim Project visit: http://therimartandecology.wordpress.com/

The Messages of Kindness blog is at: http://messagesofkindness.wordpress.com/

For more Cultural conversations, check out the video below…

Part 2

Tim Baker – Kicking off the White Shoes

by Jeff Licence

An edited version of this article was first published in the Gold Coast Bulletin on 7/10/11

One of the great perks of Tim Baker’s job is that going for surfing can be justified as “field research”.

Tim Baker’s surf writing has provided a backdrop to the evolving story of Australian surfing for 25 years. As another creative soul living on the Gold Coast, Tim feels blessed to be working and living here.

Tim Baker - image from Kicking off the White Shoes doco

“The Gold Coast is really one of the epicentres of world surfing and there’s plenty to write about in my own backyard”.

Tim grew up in Melbourne, a long way from the water, but even then he had an inkling that he wanted to combine what he loved with his career. Though he loved writing, Tim was planning to study Forestry at university, when an uncanny 100% mark for an English essay about a morning surf in his final HSC exam, saw him change his preferences to study journalism.

“There was something about that perfect score that I couldn’t ignore, so I just thought, ok that’s what I’ve got to do.”

Tim did a journalism cadetship at the Melbourne Sun and was destined for life at the paper as a sports writer when he applied on a whim for a job as assistant editor at the iconic Tracks Magazine.

“Fortunately for me, they were looking for a proper journalist who surfed a bit, rather than a proper surfer who wrote a bit.”

Tim got the job and so began his career in surf journalism.

At 23 years old, he became editor of Tracks. 2 years later he was headhunted by Surfing Life magazine, based at Burleigh. In an effort to convince him to take the editors job, Tim was shown his new office, overlooking Burleigh Headland.

“The idea of sitting at a desk and watching the surf at Burleigh was pretty intoxicating and that was really what won me.“ Over the next few years, Tim helped steer Surfing Life to number one surfing magazine in the country.

Looking for more creativity and autonomy, Tim took the plunge into freelance surf writing with the Rabbit Bartholomew biography, Bustin’ Down the Door.

“I went into freelance writing wildly idealistic. For a while there I was riding the ragged line of financial disaster.”

Eventually, through sheer perseverance and the quality of his writing, Tim began making a living doing what he loved, and he’s been doing it ever since.

These days, Tim is the author of countless magazine articles, a popular blog and 8 books, including biographies of Rabbit, Mark Occhilupo, Simon Anderson and Mick Fanning. His new book, Surfari shares his around Australia adventure with his family.

“Surfari is my love letter to this amazing country and the delights and challenges of the great family surfing road trip.”

It will be released in November, published by Random House. Another project happening for Tim is a multimedia stage adaption of The Surfer and the Mermaid, a children’s book inspired by stunning photographs by Ted Grambeau.

Tim knows that being a surf writer is a pretty privileged position that comes with responsibilities.

“What I’ve come to see as most useful is to promote the good in the world. I’d like to promote a sense of custodianship for the coast and the marine environment. Travelling around Australia has really opened my eyes to the richness of indigenous culture and made me want to be a part of the process of reconciliation.”

Whatever lies ahead for Tim Baker, you can guarantee his stories will contain those magic ingredients of good storytelling – honesty, humour, adventure and a sense of wonder gained from knowing we are all just surfers in a vast ocean.

For more about Tim, visit: www.bytimbaker.com

Solua Middleton – Kicking off the White Shoes

by Jeff Licence

An edited version of this article was first published in the Gold Coast Bulletin on 8/10/11

As a publisher, journalist and indigenous advocate, Solua Middleton is a strong, passionate voice for the indigenous community on the Gold Coast.

Solua Middleton

Solua grew up on the Gold Coast, attending Miami Primary and Miami High school. She then studied Communications at Griffith Uni here on the coast and completed her Masters of Journalism at Bond University.

After several years working in national Indigenous media in Sydney and Lismore, Solua returned to the Gold Coast and decided to start an indigenous monthly newspaper for the Gold Coast and Tweed called ‘Be Counted’. This was driven by a desire to unite and raise the profile of the Gold Coast’s indigenous community by telling local indigenous stories. Solua also wanted to provide a forum to “inspire, engage and empower” her fellow Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders, profiling what they are doing in their community to “be counted”.

In true self-publishing style, Solua did everything, from the interviews, writing the stories, organising advertising, taking the photos, designing the layout, doing the printing and even delivering the paper. She was also funding most of it out of her own pocket. After 15 heroic editions, she had to put on the brakes.

“I just couldn’t afford to keep the paper alive anymore. The communities disappointed, I’m sorely disappointed, but I’m really proud that I could create a paper and show that our community could be represented like this. Hopefully I’ve inspired others to think that this can be a reality here on the Gold Coast, to start our own publication or to have their voice heard in different ways.”

Currently, Solua works as an ABC Open Producer on the Gold Coast. Her role is to help communities connect with the ABC via their online portal to create content and to share their stories.

“What I really love about this job is that my indigenous identity has been nurtured… and I’m able to share indigenous stories with a wider audience.”

Solua’s latest contribution to her community is a project she co-developed called Dreambox. The idea is to get indigenous Australians to share their dreams in a single photograph, which is then shared via ABC Open.

“If you write it down, it’s the first step in visualising and realising your dreams.” says Solua.

The Dreambox project has become the first national indigenous project for ABC Open, with over 1100 dreams online so far. So, while Solua has wound down her Be Counted newspaper, she is proud that this new project is growing from strength to strength.

Solua feels that the Dream Box and Be Counted projects have helped to raise the profile of her indigenous community, both locally and nationally.

“I feel proud that I am contributing to my community in a small way.”

Solua sees parallels in the positive shifts happening for her indigenous community and the shifts happening on the Gold Coast itself.

“I’m seeing this cultural shift happening on the Gold Coast…to this exciting food, exciting art spaces, even the way the shops are now…. and I think it’s all a part of this shift towards a really dynamic community here, with a lot more than meets the eye really starting to come to the forefront.”

People like Solua are standing up and being counted right across this beautiful, diverse, idiosyncratic city, making their story the reality. Perhaps as we build on our strengths and share the positive stories in our city, the Gold Coast will become as famous for it’s vibrant community and cultural heart, as it is for its beaches.