Blak Dot Gallery

A few months ago I was showing Olga some of my favourite places on Lygon Street East Brunswick.  We had not seen each other for some time and were talking non-stop, catching up with news of our families. Olga was telling me about her daughter in law who was considering doing post-graduate work on the relationship between members of the indigenous community in Melbourne and very recently arrived immigrants. And then a strange thing happened....

As we picked up another thread in our conversation, we walked into the Blak Dot gallery, an Indigenous run art space. (I had already visited Blak Dot during the Fringe Festival and I find it a wonderful space.) And what exhibition greeted us, other than an exhibition of the work of a young Somali artist, Nadia Faragaab? Her interview on the Blak Dot website is most moving, as she explains in gentle terms her wish to portray images of peaceful, domestic life and also to carry on a discussion about tradition and change.

A few days ago I called in again and I was amazed by the powerful exhibition of art by people in custody. As stated on the website, “Confined 4 has emerged as an important event in Victoria’s visual arts scene and continues to illustrate the important role art plays in cultural expression and community connectedness. The exhibition demonstrates the significance of art in providing a space for cultural reflection and connecting Indigenous prisoners with country.” Some of the works were quite breathtaking. I wondered about the life stories of the artists and about what the future held for them.

Walking back along Lygon Street in the afternoon sunlight of this late autumn day, I tried to take some photographs which showed the sunlight on the older buildings.

This stretch of the street is undergoing rapid change, 

or perhaps change is its essence and the stability which I perceive in some of the architecture is but an illusion.