e - Spotlight Promotions

spotlight on spotlight •Spurred on by the success of its Stitch in Timeprogramme in Africa and Cambodia, Spotlight is nowturning its attention to local indigenous populations,beginning with a group of wonderfully talented femaleartists in the Northern Territory.The Stitch in Time program helpstransform communities, one stitch ata time. The aim is to empower womenand young people with the skills andequipment to earn their own incomesthrough sewing, allowing them tobecome self sufficient and ultimatelyimprove their lives and the lives of theirfamilies.It is estimated that every sewingmachine that is placed into acommunity can sustain the lives of 150people – just through the income it willproduce. So far Spotlight has workedto collect and deliver 5000 machinesto various communities and nowDarwin will host the next chapter of theprogramme.Gillian Harrison, the Northern TerritoryManager for ArtSupport Australia, livesand works in the Northern Territoryand she is dedicated to preservingindigenous arts. She has workedclosely with Spotlight to establish linksin the N.T community where Stitch inTime can deliver the greatest benefits.The Babbarra Women’s Centre inManingrida, central Arnhem Land,began as a women’s refuge in the1980s. Today, fine indigenous textileart is produced at the Centre and ismarketed in Australia and overseas asBabbarra Designs.While Aboriginal men and women haveproduced practical fibre accessories forthousands of years, theBabbarra artists are producingenergetic, beautiful and respectedart works for an international market.The Women’s Centre providesemployment and trainingopportunities through theestablishment and operation ofsmall business enterprises. It is thiselement that matches so perfectlywith Spotlight’s Stitch in Time concept,which concentrates on providingGet Creative Quarterly Autumn 2011 67