Creative producer Chantal Wynter’s love of Footscray extends from her life into her site-specific projects. She speaks with Benjamin Millar
What is your connection with Footscray?
I came to the west with the offer of a friend’s spare room and arrived with a ute of my treasured belongings. I’ve been living in Footscray for over 12 years now, which is a long time for me. As a child, we moved around and, as an adult, I lived and travelled extensively around the world. Footscray is my perfect fit and where l feel most comfortable.
What do you love most about the area?
I love walking down Footscray CBD streets and seeing people from all parts of the world and socio-economic backgrounds, hearing the plethora of languages being spoken, smelling the good and the bad and the unpretentiousness. I would change the truck routes – they infuriate me.
What are the things you think of as quintessentially Footscray?
Our local and street traders are Footscray. I love that you can buy a pig’s trotter, a neon haircut sign, injera bread and sexy lingerie in the market, then cross the road and buy a chilli plant from our elderly citizens and a few blocks down buy the best cannoli in Australia. You can do all of this without speaking a word of English! This is fabulous, quintessentially and all-embracing Footscray.
Do you have a favourite local place or places to spend time?
I like Footscray Library in the mornings with the lovely big windows, the friendly and uber-helpful librarians and, of course, the books. It also allows me to research while my kids can read and run around. Fingers crossed that this plug will help decrease my overdue book fines!
Can you explain the attraction and importance of place in your creative projects?
A sense of place to me is history, security, identity and home. Our First Nation peoples are still pursuing acknowledgement of place and justice. We all have diverse beginnings, but our commonality is our place. My creative projects are site-specific and endeavour to create a platform of conversation to our shared commonality of place.
What can you tell us about the West Projections Festival?
West Projections Festival is a series of projections with an eclectic public program of events. This year is super exciting, with inaugural pop-up projections in Seddon and West Footscray. Highlights include guided walks with live performance, a children’s drive-in and disco, and a launch street party.
What’s something people may be surprised to learn about you?
I think lots of creative people have sporting pursuits that are not normally associated with the arts. Mine is competing in ocean swims over the summer period in Victoria. It keeps me fit and alert and is a good way to support the life-saving clubs.
Featuring more than 25 artists, next month’s West Projections Festival will celebrate its fifth year of lighting up the streets of Footscray. Details: westprojections.com
