The next stage of the Memory Atlas Project in Ballarat is moving ahead with a series of workshops that will teach people how to use their smartphones to record their life story.
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The Memory Atlas is a council-supported project aimed at finding the hidden stories of everyday people in Ballarat, the bricks and mortar stories that hold the city’s historical fabric in place. Free classes are being offered in partnership with Rose Young from the City of Ballarat to show people how to document the stories of their lives, and the lives of people who they think are extraordinary.
Memory Atlas co-ordinator Michael Trembath says the workshops will teach people about using their phone for more than calls. He says the smartphone is a logical progression from written history through to the revolution of photography, to what is essentially a television station in our pockets.
“We think the city’s history is incredibly rich. People say ‘who would want to listen to my story, to what I have to say?’ They don’t see their own lives as interesting. But anything given enough time will become fascinating. For your children, or grandchildren or great-great-great grandchildren, any document of who you actually were will be a priceless object,” says Mr Trembath.
“Ballarat should be proud of itself of the people that lived that shaped it. We have Olympic athletes, people at the top of every profession -they're all very humble about it. People have done extraordinary things, run extraordinary businesses, are part of extraordinary lineages in town. These workshops are to teach people how to capture those stories. We are developing a platform whereby these stories can be shared, the Historic Urban Landscapes platform, through UNESCO Cultural Heritage, which is meeting in Vienna.”
There are four workshops being held every Thursday in May at the Williamson Foyer in the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute, concentrating on interviewing technique, being comfortable and at ease; how to formulate an interview, to get an overview to prompt memory; and to be able to use your phone to record the story. Later developmental workshops in the year will teach editing techniques.
The classes are open to the public; information is available through Ballarat Council.
