By CASEY NEILL
Harmony Square visitors can make a wish on a crafty tree that’s grown through community contributions.
Community installation artists Margaret Summerton and Robina Summers have joined forces to bring the Tree of Life into being.
The white tree is bursting with flowers and butterflies and a growing collection of wishes.
It represents the spirit of creativity within Greater Dandenong and will continue to bloom throughout Cultural Threads, which will run until Wednesday 31 August.
“We design art installations where a variety of small pieces can be made by members of the community, from school children to adults and for all skill levels,” Ms Summers explained.
“We then bring all these diverse pieces together to create an art installation – the larger the better.”
The Wishing Tree trunk is made from marine cord and torn synthetic silk and satin.
“It can be washed if it gets dirty – important when it’s white!” she said.
Children at St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School in Noble Park and Keysborough Primary School knitted chains for the trunk.
“The knitted butterfly bodies were made by the Social Knitwork group,” Ms Summers said.
“The flowers and more of the knitted chain were made by the Tamil Women’s Group.
“The Open Door made the leaves.
“The poppies at its base were part of the wonderful Poppies for Peace project that we worked on within the Dandenong community last year.”
This was the second time the Summers and Summerton duo worked on Cultural Threads.
“The last one involved the community making huge blankets to wrap around the pillars in Harmony Square,” Ms Summers said.
“We also covered the bike racks and railings. There was lots of hugging of the pillars to go with the selfies that time.”
The month-long Cultural Threads is building on its 2014 incarnation and celebrating textile art and cultural diversity.
The City of Greater Dandenong-hosted event features knitting, crocheting, dyeing, weaving, needlepoint, yarn art and other skills.
People of all ages and backgrounds are being guided by some of Australia’s most celebrated artists to forge connections, trade skills, share stories and interweave cultures.
Intricate and colourful installations are adorning the municipality throughout Cultural Threads, which is a satellite event of Craft Victoria’s Craft Cubed Festival.
