An invitation to tell your truth

The City of Fremantle, in collaboration with the Centre for Stories, is calling for emerging and established storytellers to participate in a Backyard Truth Telling Series.

Program organisers are looking for people from in and around Walyalup | Fremantle to share their first-hand experience of the often untold truths of our past.

In November, Indigenous and non-Indigenous people will share their difficult truths and hopes for the future, with an audience of allies and those who wish to learn, in backyards around Fremantle.

Stories can be ‘big’ or ‘small’. They could be about being part of the Stolen Generations or what it feels like to experience racism, for example.

To prepare for the potentially challenging conversations, the City is holding a series of participant workshops in July. Each selected storyteller will be mentored in how to shape and share their story of lived experience in a safe and supportive environment.

The program’s mentor is Ron Bradfield Jnr, a saltwater man from Bardi Country, north of Broome, who grew up in Geraldton and now lives in Perth. As Chief Yarning Officer of Yarns R Us, he facilitates cultural conversations with communities at all levels.

“Our stories matter, and they do so best when others hear them and feel them amongst their own stories too,” Mr Bradfield Jnr said.

Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge said the City was committed to exploring the pillar of Truth in its new Reconciliation Action Plan.

“Fremantle is one of a growing number of local communities who are working together to acknowledge previously unrecognised parts of their local histories involving Australia’s relationship and history with First Nations people,” Mayor Fitzhardinge said.

A ‘Fire, Feed and Yarn’ information session is being held at the Fremantle Arts Centre on Sunday, 7 July 2024, from 10am to 1pm, where interested storytellers can find out if this opportunity is for them.