Kent Morris is The Torch CEO. A Barkindji man living on Yalukut Weelam Country in Melbourne, Kent has over 20 years’ experience as a practicing artist and curator and is an alumnus of the National Gallery of Australia’s Indigenous Arts Leadership Program. We welcome Kent back to 3KND to yarn about the Torch Project and how COVID has affected the way of supporting those who have been incarcerated or recently released.
Kent has a strong interest in the educational and healing potential of the arts and in 2011 joined The Torch to design, develop and deliver the Indigenous Arts in Prisons and Community program.
ABOUT THE TORCH The Torch has been delivering the Statewide Indigenous Arts in Prisons and Community Program (SIAPC) since 2011. The SIAPC Program is set within the context of the Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement and its focus is on the role of culture and cultural identity in the rehabilitative process of Indigenous prisoners. The Torch employs Indigenous Arts Officers to deliver the Program to Indigenous men and women in Victorian prisons and to support participants who are transitioning back into the community. By embracing program participants as artists rather than offenders, The Torch provides an avenue to change.
Since its inception over $1,000,000 worth of artworks from program’s artists have been sold and licensed. Purchasers include the National Gallery of Victoria, Museum Victoria, Shepparton Art Museum the Victorian Ombudsman and a range of government, corporate and private buyers in Australia and overseas.
EVENT DETAILS: FUTURE DREAMING Dates: 29 October – 17 December 2020 Venue: Online at The Torch Website: http://thetorch.org.au/.../future-dreaming-visions-of.../