About

The Mythologies of my Local seeks to document and celebrate the histories and legends, hidden behind the rich and diverse local scene(s) of Melbourne’s metropolitan area.

Method

In the dynamic that The Mythologies of My Local aims to develop: a creative voice(s) (i.e. artist / author or group of artists) will produce a related artwork(s), which shall comprise a collection of stories and legends, hidden behind the local small-business community.

Sharing the knowledge

The featured artist / group will have the option to form teams with members of the local community, in a relationship where they get to promote their work/trade while sharing their knowledge. This is to be done through the organisation of one or a series of tutorials / workshops; which shall follow a series of general guidelines designed by Urban Art Games. These ones include both live demonstrations [of one or multiple artistic process(es)]; and practical activities where patrons will get to produce their own work.

Origin

The Mythologies of my Local has been conceived as a strategy for artists, businesses and institutions to respond to the economic crisis prompted by the Covid-19 outbreak, by documenting and celebrating the histories and legends behind the rich and diverse collection of local scenes that can be found across the Melbourne metropolitan area.

Invitation

As part of the wider effort to connect with local businesses and artists and get them to collaborate in the documentation and celebration of the mythologies that constitute the living memory of Melbourne; this project also invites local and visiting audiences to connect with the local scene, as they support the small businesses and artists involved in the project. It also encourages an ongoing conversation between the small business community, the local artists and the general audience, which shall focus on the past, present and future cultural development of the city and the communities that it hosts.

This effort to create an ongoing dialogue shall materialise in (and through) the stories/mythologies that, in time, would constitute an artistic journal of the greater Melbourne.

Call to artists / authors

The ultimate purpose of Urban Art Games is to encourage the creation and strengthening of community bonds: built around the celebration of local artists, authors and creative voices of any and all kinds. This is, therefore, an invitation to exhibit and promote your work.

Call to local businesses

Urban Art Games offers small businesses the opportunity to endorse local creative voices: while promoting their own brand/trade and supporting social/environmental causes related to their origin and purpose. This service is adaptable to the needs and level of desired involvement that the given business is willing/able to commit to. It could range from strictly digital promotional campaigns to the physical showcasing and organisation of special events/activities.

The Legend of the Cosmical Arepa is a story that is part of the design of the take-away arepa bags of Sonido! Cafe and restaurant located at 69 GERTRUDE ST. FITZROY.

Remember, my friends, the voice of the great Chiminigagua: the primal creator. Remember the day, when floating in darkness, he thought it was time to paint it with light. He sent two black ravens to fly across the universe; carrying with them the essence of his sound. As they opened their beaks, his voice emanated in streams of golden vapour: filling the cosmos with life and with splendour.

Remember Bochica, his son, who many years later, when humans were young, arrived as a stranger and gave our forefathers the present of corn. Remember the footprint he left in the sand, as a remnant and a warning to follow his path. For balance is fragile and the land has demands. You must give what you take, you must do what is right... and find strength in the grain that is made out of light.

Don’t forget to pay tribute to the goddess Bachué, who emerged from the waters of a mountainous lake. She came down from her mountain and gave birth to our kind. She deciphered the secrets of the flame and the stone: bringing shelter and fire and the knowledge of gods.

Chiguachía is the window between the sun and the moon. It’s located in a valley where two rivers become one. In this place, long ago, two great kings went to war. With the passage of time the domains were divided. The cacique from the north had a treasure to hide, for the sparkle of gold casted a curse on the man. As his greed ate his trust, he called out for his shaman, who through magic and dealings with the spirits of nature, found a passage on the rock to the belly of the mountain. As he buried his gold, in the heart of the land, he believed that his treasure would be safe at last. The cacique from the south, nonetheless, was informed, and thus ordered his servants to take claim of the gold. When the tragedy struck and the men fell from grace, from the sadness and sorrow, there’s a moral that remained: for the mountain kept the gold and the river turned red.

Then it is said, my dear friends, that the message was lost, when the men from beyond, set their feet in new shores. They were cursed by the glare, they were blinded, they were lost; they were maddened by fever, by the fever of gold. Like the kings from the legend, their demise was foretold. But the knowledge of Bochica was remembered by his clan. The spirit of the mother still lays dormant in the land, where the rivers meet the mountain and the secret passage hides.

It’s up to us now, to remember, once and for all, that the light of the creator shines the brightest in the corn. And the essence of its magic has been grinded and has been stored, in this bag that is from the ground and to the ground shall return. When you mix it with water: with the essence of Bachué, you can shape it as a saucer and remember one last story: as there is a version and there is a section of the population who believe, that Bochica was an alien who came to visit from the stars, in a cosmical arepa that brings happiness to the land.

(Example: adaptation of story into video/animation format)