Deer Park Library Mural by KATIRA in Melbourne

A new collaborative mural has been created- between artist Katherine Gailer (also known as KATIRA) and Victoria University Secondary College Students; mural is located at Deer Park Library. Recently Deer Park community has been deeply affected by the unfortunate death of Solomone Taufeulungaki- who was also a student at the secondary school. Following this event young people’s sense of belonging to this specific local area has been fractured and are going through a healing process. The library hopes this significant rupture between the library space and young people affected by the death, can be reclaimed and reconciled. By co-creating the mural, young people are being given an amplified voice, the opportunity to reclaim this space through creativity, have a positive impact on their community and deliver a public artwork that invites other young people to reconnect with the library and their locality. Katherine facilitated a series of creative workshops with a group of 5 students (representing their community) as a form of consult. Workshops consists of a series of exercises that allow participants to explore their individual voice and ideas,followed by sharing exercises where participants negotiate their ideas to find a collective voice. By the end of the workshop they had one statement and a clear vision of the visual narrative of the mural. Taking into account all the symbols and concepts identified through the workshops, the artist developed a concept design for the mural that was painted together with the students.