Broken Hill iStreet Project
Project History
The Broken Hill iStreet crew championed the iStreet Project in Sydney in April 2014. It aimed to further their artistic skills and knowledge by participating in a range of metropolitan-based activities. The iStreet Lab was an all round audio-visual unit in a portable wheelie bin. It was initiated by Mervin Jarman with iStreet World Jamaica during his annual visits to the Broken Hill Art Exchange commencing in 2007 through to 2013. The project supporters (2013 / 14) who helped build the Broken Hill iStreet Community Lab included the NSW Department of Communities - Youth and the Foundation for Regional & Rural Renewal. They assisted the touring aspect of the project and enabled iStreet Lab equipment fit out. The unit was established as a Community Resource for Far West NSW Communities. Invaluable support was received from the Australia Council for the Arts (2013) Indigenous Experimental Art Fund, 2DRY FM Community Radio, Patton Village Community & Business Association, Aboriginal Legal Service, Mallee Family Care and Wilcannia Community Radio.
There were twelve people in the Broken Hill iStreet including four people from Dareton NSW. This cultural experience has enabled the possibility of forming a Dareton iStreet to extend regional linkages even further. The Broken Hill iStreet crew members included:
Hasyifa Comey (singing/community markets/face painting)
Marcos Garcia (film director)
Hannah Illingworth
(custom & graphic design/arts administration/BHAE Vice President)
Steve Florence (radio D.J, visual/audio performance art)
Anthony Hayward (community development/didgeridoo/radio)
Fiona Goldsmith (D.J)
James Midgley (vocalist/songwriter)
Other Broken Hill iStreet assistants included:
Deborah Asmather (artist/printmaker)
Susan Thomas (integrated community contemporary arts/painting).
Through Youth Opportunities each of the iStreet crew members have the opportunity to developing their own interests as future project managers. Youth Opportunities have allowed a variety of new creative activities to be established. From this time on young people across the Far West NSW region are further acknowledged for their contribution to communities.
The iStreet project founded by the late Mervin Jarman (Jamaica/UK) connected with ten towns across far west New South Wales. mervin's crew, included Yatta Stokey and Josh Jarman. A designated iStreet Lab was constructed as a community resource in Broken Hill. A Broken Hill crew was established and other crews were initiated in Dareton and Wilcannia. The Broken Hill Art Exchange and iStreet Lab participants partnered with local organisations and individuals to undertake a range of different activities, tours, excursions, recording workshops, art engagement projects and performances. From September 2013 – September 2014 there were 16 iStreet Lab performances, 15 workshops and 1 cultural excursion, totalling in 32 creative activities. Six new initiatives and twelve organisational linkages were established. The project flourished with an additional 19 activities in September 2014 which led to 8 major projects towards the Broken Hill Fringe Festival in March 2015. The iStreet project continued through the 2016 iStreet Youth Scholarship, resulting in an exhibition at the Broken Hill Fringe Festival 26 Aug – 4 Sep that year.
2015 Broken Hill Fringe Festival Participants
Zac Bentley, Anthony Pierce (Broken Hill, NSW), James Midgley (Broken Hill, NSW), Steve Florance (Broken Hill, NSW), Fiona Goldsmith (Broken Hill NSW), Susan Marchesi (Dareton, NSW), Amie Richardson(Dareton, NSW), Jessica King (Dareton, NSW), Shannon Munro, Ben Mawby, Bradley Edwards, Kate Osman. Project assistance from Bruce Green (Broken Hill NSW), Dave D. Currie (Wilcannia NSW), Deborah Asmather (Broken Hill NSW), Alan Turner (Dareton NSW), Gary Cook and Susan Thomas (Broken Hill NSW).
HASYIFA COMEY (NurhayaniComey)
My name is Hasyifa Comey, I was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. I was studying visual and contemporary art from TAFE in Broken Hill. I am always interested in landscape painting and grew up in an environment that was surrounded by big trees and fruits plants, which has inspired me to do landscape painting, printmaking and jewellery making. I really enjoy doing and learning about painting and printmaking, and now I am interested in face painting with children. The first time I exhibited my printmaking was at the Broken Hill Art Exchange, STUDIO 3 Gallery. The Broken Hill Art Exchange is an artist residency but it also facilitates exhibitions, projects and workshops. Currently I am developing my face painting for market involvement as part of the iStreet lab Gazebo. iStreet is a Youth Engagement Project at the Broken Hill Art Exchange that is focused on developing the skills and talents of young people in art, music and digital production. I love art because I can express myself through art and I develop my creativity from nature. I have been painting since I was 18 years old, painting make me feel satisfied and I really enjoy doing it. I have also been performing as a singer through the iStreet Lab at markets and recorded several songs in English and Indonesian for the iStreet Crew's music E.P that is soon to be released.
Markos Garcia (aka Augusto Mak)
I am an ambitious, independent screenwriter/director working hard to find my way through the industry to get my stories to larger audiences. Scene by scene, project by project, premiere by premiere; I keep advancing and growing as a filmmaker and hope one day to be on a position where through my stories I can inspire, entertain and surprise people all over the world. At the moment I have written and directed 12 short films and I am looking to make the transition to feature film this year. Originally from Argentina, I have lived the last 5 years of my life in Australia, in Brisbane, where I obtained my Bachelor in Commerce. With the objective of making my last short film on the Outback I arrived 3 months ago to Broken Hill where I built up a crew composing of local artists. I got in contact with the Broken Hill Art Exchange who assisted me with the illustrations and the storyboards for my last short film.
I was offered involvement in the iStreet project as a project manager with the objective of contacting a producer for my first feature film, for which I will be sent to Sydney to network with some artist and producers to make this film project happen. I am also being sent to Brisbane to supervise the editing of my last short film with the intention of speeding up the process. I am very excited about this project and I can see that it can make the difference to young artists wanting to make a profession out of their craft. Refer to Barrier Daily Truth article below.
Hannah Illingworth
Hannah ‘Skhetch’ Illingworth: Hannah has been lucky enough to live and travel many areas of this beautiful country. After spending extended periods of time in Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Whales she has currently settled with her partner in Broken Hill. She is trained in graphic design but extends her visual art skills into such things as murals, face painting and custom illustrated shoes. Her other interests include community development and business management. She produces a free bi-monthly zine with her partner, Andrew Spencer, named ANIMA ZINE as well as running their joint business Skhetchy Brownsmoke. Her experiences help drive her passions and is highly interested in speaking out about political / social / cultural issues surrounding things such as the legalisation of marijuana and the shared awareness of mental health. She enjoys using many different media from oil paints to tattooing and even digital tablet illustration. Hannah also loves her cat Crumpet, good reading material, skating and yoga.
In Memory of our dear friend and 'Big Brother' mervin Jarman, 2014 (iStreet World)
The Broken Hill Art Exchange was deeply saddened by the news of the passing of our dear friend and artist in residence mervin Jarman. We send our condolences to his family, friends, and all those who knew and loved him. We will cherish his memory and the time he spent with us. It was a great honour and a privilege to have known him. We are immensely grateful for his legacy of the iStreet, which is providing so many new and wonderful opportunities in our communities.
Words of Remembrance spoken at the Broken Hill iStreet Crew Gazebo, Festival of Respect, Patton Park in South Broken Hill, 29th March 2014
Picasso also once remarked, long after his name had become an epithet for ‘excellent painter’ that his mother had said 'If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.' In reply Picasso Quipped, “Instead I was a painter, and became Picasso!”
And so it was with Mervin Jarman. He became Mervin: a humanitarian and very much himself, a much loved and very useful man upon this earth. For many of us here at the Broken Hill Art Exchange and surrounding towns the name Mervin Jarman was almost iconic. His style, warm heartedness, and welcoming smile was safe, fun and supportive. We thought of him as our Big Brother as he said we could and knew that in a sense he was “everybody’s brother” because everybody felt as if they were in his family. Every time he visited we had the honour and great privilege of meeting the people he loved. He shared his family and friends with us, bringing them with him to share their expertise, friendship and kindness.
He created a safe, socially levelling environment for collaborative activity with his ‘brothers and sisters’. This was his special, god given talent; Mervin made the world a special and rewarding place to be, full of potential. Through his hallmark works, the Container project, iStreetWorld and iStreet labs he created spaces for the young and young and heart to shine. In his life’s work Mervin set task to acknowledging the undervalued and underestimated youth throughout the world. His iStreet methodology and the iStreet one stop portable labs are the production hub where uncut diamonds are found. The poignancy of having technology Labs in wheelie bins usually used for dumping rubbish was sadly drawn from intimate knowledge, when he and others were made to feel like rubbish. From this he went about personally empowering people, one person at a time. With the iStreet Labs he made young hearts sing and championed the awakening of new generations of young talent and possibilities.
It seemed his life was an extension of our own lives because Mervin managed not just social levelling but world levelling. He demystified the distant and elite worlds of technology, business, recording and performance, and brought it down to size, making it accessible to us as its producers. Mervin embraced us with his big heart, humour and simple wisdom. We will miss him deeply but his legacy we will not be forgotten because it has become so much a part of us all.
From the Broken Hill Art Exchange & iStreet Crew and the communities whose hearts he touched in Far West NSW Australia. We celebrate his life.
Broken Hill iStreet Project information and background, initiated by Mervin Jarman, iStreet World
In 2013 mervin Jarman together with Josh Thomas Jarman, Yatta Stoky and Jay visited Broken Hill to commence building the iStreet Community Capacity Development Strategy in Broken Hill and Far West NSW. As artists-in-residence at the Broken Hill Art Exchange the group toured the region with the iStreet Lab to develop working relationships and trust between artists, youth and businesses in Menindee, Balranald, Wilcannia, Ivanhoe, White Cliffs, Tibooburra, Cobar, Wentworth, Dareton and Bourke. They worked together with 2Dry FM community radio station in Broken Hill and visited other community radio stations in the region. The tour culminated in the ‘Desert Expression Concert’ held in the town square and also at Theatre 44 in Broken Hill. The concert was a creative, inclusive and entertaining event featuring the iStreet performers, which will provide the platform to ensuring iStreet’s future sustainability.
All the Desert Expression concert performers and regional participants were drawn from the primary engagement group that encompassed over one hundred main participants across ten towns in Far West NSW. The secondary group that established was the Broken Hill iStreet, a smaller group looking at various aspect of events management, enterprise and media production. As an outcome of the regional tour and Desert Expression, music videos and digital story documentaries have been produced. We hope to register at least one new start-up businesses under the iStreet Umbrella to support at least five arms of enterprise (such as merchandising, catering, digital productions, event promotion/management and art making). This is now well underway with a recording studio having been established at the Broken Hill Art Exchange and five original recordings featuring new and emerging artists and musicians nearing completion for the release of a Broken Hill iStreet EP. A regular monthly music venue has also been successfully secured (commencing in March 2014) along with Youth Scholarships having been established to support young people to achieve their best and further their talents.
Singers, songwriters, beat makers/composers, musicians, dancers, actors, storytellers, painters, graphic designers, craft builders and anyone who has something to say can join the iStreet Team. If you want to learn how to make videos, be a photographer, a producer, events coordinator/manager, stage manager, or learn new skills then this project is for you!
Thank you to mervin Jarman and iStreet World artists for establishing the Broken Hill iStreet and to the participants across Far West NSW for enthusiastically embracing the iStreet methodology and vision. The Broken Hill Art Exchange also gratefully acknowledges the NSW Government Office of Community - Youth Opportunities and the Foundation For Regional Renewal (FRRR) for their assistance in ensuring the continuing growth of new youth opportunities in Far West NSW and the Australia Council for the Arts for enabling the iStreet Lab in helping prepare young digital creative industry entrepreneurs to sustain creative activities throughout the region.
Image: The Dareton iStreet performers with Mervin Jarman (centre) and crew Josh Jarman, Yatta Stoky, Jay and Pastor John at the Desert Expression concert, Theatre 44 Broken Hill 2013
