This month Launceston celebrates a special anniversary.
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Its Human Library has been running for 10 years.
As featured in The Sunday Examiner, the human library was a concept borrowed from Denmark, and introduced to Tasmania for the first time, in Launceston.
It invites people in the community to orally share their stories, with the overall aim of breaking down stereotypes and fostering greater levels of harmony.
Many powerful stories have been shared throughout the library’s lifetime.
For some “readers”, they are getting a glimpse into a life that is so alien to them, but it is the life of someone they live next door to, work with, or pass daily in the street.
Sometimes it is easy to forget how important intangible infrastructure is to the building of a city.
It is programs like the Human Library that help to make a city a community.
The sharing of experience through stories is something that has been naturally occurring in human culture for decades.
It is how we pass down customs, social mores, history, even recipes.
This weekend, Launceston is hosting another form of storytelling.
This time, it’s on the big screen.
The Breath of Fresh Air Film Festival has come back after a one-year hiatus, reinvigorated and ready to enthrall cinema goers.
The festival began on Thursday night, with a red carpet appearance from guest of honour Wendy Whiteley.
Wendy is the wife of famed Australian visual artist Brett Whiteley, and his biopic is one of the headlining films of the line-up.
Tasmanian cinema is also celebrated, with the 30-year anniversary of The Tale of Ruby Rose. The film’s director Roger Scholes is also a guest at the festival.
A mix of documentaries, biopics and good, old-fashion flicks, the festival again brings the community together through stories.
While Northern Tasmania forges ahead with a new era of new developments and opportunities, we assess the systems we need to have in place to support growth.
The biggest key that will keep us together throughout this next phase, is community.
A sense of community, bred through understanding and acceptance.
We all have an important story to share. Those stories go on to make up the overarching narrative of Tasmania. So let’s tell them well.