MEMORY BANK connecting to memory

Mouth to Mountain connecting...to land Memory Bank connecting...to songline m2m connecting...to songline connecting identities

a place where memory is held safe and accessible

Over 40 short films and a number of written anecdotes have already been collected capturing stories that reveal the diverse personal meanings and associations of local places. These stories form a growing collection housed on the Connecting Identities website www.geelongaustralia.com.au/connectingidentities

A further collection of audio stories are being gathered in locations where they can be listened to at their place of origin. Using a mobile phone, people will be able to listen to stories about the land on which they are standing. This aspect of the project is known as [murmur] and is being developed in collaboration with a Canadian team of story collectors who first developed the idea in Toronto.

"MEMORY BANK is a collection of unofficial histories, presented mainly as first-person narratives. It's an ongoing project to collect and disseminate stories that reveal the diverse personal meanings and associations attached to specific localities across the Geelong region. Together, these stories promote a richer appreciation of the significance of these places and can inform the way in which localities are interpreted, preserved and developed into the future.

MEMORY BANK reveals stories embedded in particular places; un-signposted local knowledge; ways in which the past remains alive in the present. MEMORY BANK presents a mix of evocative archival material as well as new material created especially for this project.

Initially, MEMORY BANK focuses on five localities: Barwon Heads, Whittington, Eastern Park, Norlane/Corio, and Lara. In the future, other Geelong communities will be approached to participate." Malcolm McKinnon - curator and filmmaker

MEMORY BANK can be accessed at www.geelongaustralia.com.au/connectingidentities

copyright meme mcdonald 2002