Hannah Hammoud
Students from Sunshine Heights Primary School are set to showcase their creative talents as they work to spread an important message of belonging, inclusivity and kindness.
Students from the school have been working alongside the ‘Inkrewsive’ group, a dance theatre ensemble and hip-hop crew made up of young Melburnians who experience disability.
Not-for-profit organisation Wild At Heart leads the ‘Inkrewsive’ program, which has been producing original songs, music videos and performances for the last 10 years.
The crew and kids have banded together to write a song about belonging, which has been recorded and made into a music video featuring the entire school community, as well as producing a ‘Meet the Makers’ documentary.
The kids have been working with the ‘Inkrewsive’ group as a team every week for three school terms to explore the topic of belonging through art and music-making.
Wild At Heart executive director Phil Heuzenroeder said the project has been an extraordinary collaboration between the two groups
“For the hip hop crew, some of them have been stigmatised, bullied and excluded due to having a disability. For the school kids, they have all had different experiences which they each bring to the table,” he said.
“It has been an incredible process of getting to know each other across a divide of age and experience, but also moments of recognising each other in their commonalities.”
Mr Heuzenroeder said it is important to engage young kids in these conversations as they have their own unique wisdom to offer.
“They are incredibly perceptive and wise people. Often young people are not given the belief that they experience difficult things,” he said.
“We want to give a voice to people who may not have it. The real focus of this has been to explore those experiences through storytelling, creative writing and hip hop. It enables you to tell stories that are difficult and to do it in a way that is safe and is a fun way to express yourself.”
To learn more about Wild At Heart, visit www.wildatheart.org.au/about
