Hello, I'm a community archive artist working on Wathaurong Country and regionally in Victoria. 

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Here are some examples of my work. Some are community projects, other are artworks. Some projects are purely photographic as this is my original background. Now I make work and talk to people about the smaller stories that are sometimes lost in the grand narrative of Australia. I give space and time for stories hidden in archives to be told, heard and shared. These stories are hidden on mantelpieces, in yarns around the kitchen table and in suitcases left at the local historical society after a house clearance or a passing. Memories reside in photographs, objects and in conversations.

 

I work only in regional areas, believing that a collaborative, honourable and experimental approach to creating dialogues and artworks is beneficial and rewarding to both artist and communities. I also believe there's enough art in Melbourne. I'm really excited about archives: they are fertile collections, not dead or decaying, but vital with latent stories waiting to be reimagined and brought into the present. I work with analogue photographic equipment, preferring to work with film: the materiality of the medium is itself a retainer of memory. Film can present so many unknowns, as can my 60 year-old camera. 

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In December 2021 I finished my PhD at the Victorian College of the Arts at Melbourne University. The work is entitled 'Glory Box'.

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When I lived in Scotland I made work with my friend Lydia Beilby as Screen Bandita. You can also see some of my cuttings and photos here.

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If you want to get in touch or have any questions, give me a holler at: olmi.leanora@gmail.com