My Generation is a diverse, intergenerational public art project that is colourful, quirky, and most importantly, aims to challenge Ageism.

My Generation connected primary school children (year levels 4, 5 or 6) with community members aged 60 + or 50 + for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants. Project participants worked together to create a collaborative series of artworks and a documentary film was created to document the interactions and the art process. Please see Eastern Community Legal Centre’s Commitment to Child Safety. 

Project Activities took place between June – September 2022 in the Boronia Township and the project was celebrated with three individual events.

Event 1: Art Exhibition

The first event was an Art Exhibition which showcased the collaborative artworks created during the workshops.We were thrilled to have over 70 guests on both occasions. Special thanks to Aunty Zeta Thomson for her beautiful Welcome to Country and to Ash Dargan for his storytelling and Didgeridoo performance at the art Exhibition event. We were thrilled to have so many parents and student participants from Boronia K-12 College with us on the day including Uncle John Baxter, Cassandra Wright, Assistant Principal of Boronia K12 and Knox City Council Mayor Susan Laukens. Special thanks to  project partner, Boronia K-12 College.

Event 2: Documentary film Night

The second event showcased the Documentary film that was created to highlight the workshops, themes, purpose and interactions between project participants. Jackson Taylor MP, local member for Bayswater/ Knox was in attendance and provided a short speech acknowledging the participants, partners and Boronia community. Special guests included Boronia K12 Principal Matthew Scammell & Assistant Principal, Cassandra Wright, Knox City Council, Community Wellbeing Manager, Petrina Dodds- Buckley. It was great to have support from The Basin Community House, @EACH, Eastern Regional Libraries (Boronia branch), Knox City Council, Knox Leisureworks, Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place (MMIGP), Swinburne University of Technology and Women’s Health East (WHE) and C31 Melbourne and Geelong . Special thanks to Boronia based Signarama for the project signage and Joel Smith Productions for putting together the delightful & moving my Generation, ‘Art is for Everyone’ documentary. You can view this film below.

Event 3:  Storytelling and Dining event

The third and final event commemorated the project partnership perfectly with a magical evening of storytelling, dining and art on the 13th September, 2022. The event, held at the Boronia Progress Hall, showcased inspirational speakers talking about social inclusion, mental health, ageism and sustainability and delicious food from local businesses Bangkok Delights & Mt Village Coffee Lounge.

We were privileged to have Aunty Sherree Francis, as a guest speaker, Uncle Malcolm Francis, Uncle John Baxter, Ash Dargan, Henry Nguyen & Lisa Nguyen from Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place (MMIGP), participants of the My Generation Program and their families. We were also thrilled to have Daniel & Luke Mancuso who enlightened us about their brilliant Yiayia Next Door movement. Special thanks to Community artist Alisa Tanaka King for all her work on this project.

My Generation is funded by the Victorian Government and supported by the Boronia Revitalisation Board.

My Generation is a partnership between ECLC, The Basin Community House, EACH, Eastern Regional Libraries (Boronia branch), Knox City Council, Knox Leisureworks, Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place (MMIGP), Swinburne University and Women’s Health East (WHE).

WATCH: ‘Art is for Everyone’ Docco below:

• View coverage of this on our Facebook reel here.
• Download My Generation Media Release here
• Watch the shortened PROMO VIDEO here