SONDER: Everyone has a story
Sonder - “Everyone has a story.(neologism) The profound feeling or realisation that each random passer-by is living a life as vivid and complex as your own, which they are living despite one’s personal lack of awareness of it.” The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.
Located in Cooroy Queensland Australia and online www.sondergallery.com
Sonder Studio Gallery
Sonder Studio Gallery is an art, craft and design social enterprise, commercial gallery, studio space and online e-commerce platform. It has been established for artists from marginalised groups, to collaborate, showcase, raise awareness, gain support, and feel included in creating and exhibiting their visual stories. Collaborative activities, workshops, education, and training; access to artists in residence, expert ambassadors, and mentors; all provided in a supportive, inclusive, and welcoming physical and online environment.
Vision:
To use creative industries, in an ethical manner, to nurture and inject kindness into building social and emotional robustness.
To showcase unique, sustainably sourced creative products that inspire beauty, a sense of pride, a recognition of stories, and care for the social and physical world.
To ignite and support future creative social entrepreneurs to become financially independent, ethical practitioners, and leaders, who develop ongoing circles of giving practices.
To operate for purpose, not just profit, to create value for society.
Sonder Gallery aims:
Value stories – Be an environment for artists to explore their own social justice themes, to enable them to tell their own visual story, and create artist statement to compliment the artworks or body of work.
Exhibit & showcase – Ensure the gallery space and ecommerce platform are available for artists to develop their business and showcase, exhibit, promote and sell their creations.
Relationships – Be a safe space where the local, national, and global community of creative peoples can come together in person and in cyber space online, to build relationships and make connections.
Change the discourse for Indigenous artists – To actively contribute to preventing the exploitation of Indigenous artists by providing a $0 commission (excluding NFT’s) and $0 space hire fee to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait persons, until such time that there is equity for Indigenous artists owning and operating their own galleries in Australia.
Studio workshops – Build and share traditional and non-traditional skills and knowledge, by providing training opportunities for artists to expand their creative skills and develop new skills in arts and in business development.
Networking
Representatives from local groups, together with social enterprise participants, founders, and members, set strategic directions for the annual calendar of activities and exhibitions. Various groups are afforded sole responsibility for the practical implementation of studio space activities and exhibitions for special days acknowledgement. Network involvement includes establishing building on local knowledge to make connections with participants at a national and global, grassroots level.
Target Groups
Whilst we do not aim to exclude anyone, we are actively targeting women; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; displaced, refugee and migrant people; people of minority sexual orientation, youth, and people with a disability. At least 51% of the overall target group participants will be women.
National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) week, the United Nations (UN) and Australia’s significant days of acknowledgment will determine the timing of focus groups, events, sessions, and exhibitions. At least one week of focused events, dedicated solely to the individual target groups, will centre around the significant dates and in most cases one to two weeks of exhibition / set up time will occur, sometime overlapping (see calendar of events).
The days of acknowledgement we MAY hold an exhibition for, in date order will include:
International Women’s Day - March
Harmony Day - March
Pride Month - March
Refugee Week – June
NAIDOC Week – July
International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples – August
International Youth Day – August
World Humanitarian Day – August
QLD Australia Disability Week – September
International Day of Peace – September
Noosa Open Studio week – October
International Men’s Day – November
World Children’s Day – November
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – November