Stories are what bind and carry us. They are what teach us, what enliven us, and they are what remains, even when everything is gone. They live in hearts and minds, and they can never be taken from us.

Over the past 18 months, the Resilient Clarence project has held an extraordinary amount of space for some of these truths to be spoken. Space for the harrowing. Space for the brave. Space for tears. Space for camaraderie. Space for anguish. Space for relief. Space for the black and space for the green. We’ve gathered fire knowledge from experts - the communities that have experienced and survived them - for the purpose of educating one another and connecting with each other. This knowledge will aid others to feel more prepared and less scared, and the lived experience, tested strategies, and advice will save lives. It takes an extraordinary amount of courage to share the manifestations of our most harrowing times. To invite others into the internal rooms we keep locked so we can press on. Yet just as barely perceptible green shoots emerge through the ash, there are those that rise to lead and lift others. 

The stories shared courageously within this collection of experiences amount to a community service by the participants that both locally and afar, we are the broader for. We felt we could have run the project for years, and had we been able to speak to every community member and gathered their experience we would have relished it. We nevertheless know that the sliver of voices and stories we have gathered, whilst in no way speak for the entire community, offer a glimpse inside the truth of the events that transpired within them.

Part of the project involved documenting creative recovery efforts in 10 priority-affected communities. It emerged during that process that not every community had engaged in forms of creative recovery post-fire. With this in mind, we came up with a way for all of the separate communities to connect and to tangibly commemorate their fire experience and the regrowth that has followed.

We wanted to create a way for all communities to feel the gentle embrace of one another through creative coalescence. And to know that although we may be small communities, seemingly separate, our collective spirit is mighty, and that together we are not lost in the fire but built from it. We worked with nationally renowned Woombah artist Al Stark to capture these themes in an artwork you will see on the digital map, and to create a giant paint-by-numbers iteration that through the joyful and expert vision of artist and facilitator Kerrie Speirs, and the aforementioned community hands, was transformed from a black canvas with lead lines and numbers, to a vibrant and life-celebrating work. The creative process itself, exemplifying the regrowth theme.

The REGROWTH artwork is a 4m x 2.6m canvas comprised of the oil pastel strokes of hundreds of hands from across the Clarence Valley communities we spent time in. It is a symbol of home, connection and as the name offers; regrowth.

We have walked gently and kindly across the three Goorie nations of the Clarence Valley Yaegl, Bundjalung and Gumbaynggirr, to bring Resilient Clarence to life and we have met the best of people in the worst of times. 

An overarching and enduring lesson remains; it is people that MAKE community. It is made of ordinary folk that add the EXTRA to make community extraordinary. It is backboned by those who show up first and leave last. Who tirelessly take the calls, and rally the help, and keep pushing and contributing and setting the bar no matter the challenges thrown. Who fall into bed exhausted but lie awake thinking of ideas and ways how to make life kinder, fuller, better for those around them. Then wake up the next day and get stuck into it. That’s community-led resilience. We leave this project inspired by your tireless contributions. This project is dedicated to you.

Hayley Talbot, Blanc Space Agency
Creative Director
Resilient Clarence

Meet and learn from Resilient Clarence Valley men, women and children here →