When the Black Summer Bushfires ravaged through the south coast and the Eurobodalla, many residents were left traumatised and surrounded by physical signs of the disaster they had endured.
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The process of mourning and recovery would be long, and still continues today.
However the media spotlight rapidly switched to COVID, and the impacts of the bushfires slipped from the national consciousness.
Oral historian, digital storyteller and Guerilla Bay local Magella Blinksell watched this transition and decided the community need a place to retain these stories of trauma and recovery in an accessible, shared and permanent way.
It was here the vision for her new blog With Our Own Eyes Eurobodalla (WOOEE) - supported by 350 Eurobodalla - was formed.
Before it was a blog, WOOEE started out as a River of Art exhibition on display at The Pantry, Moruya in September 2020, showcasing artworks dealing with grief, trauma and recovery.
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"We needed a digital holding place for our community's experience of the bushfires," Ms Blinksell - now coordinator and digital producer of WOOEE - said.
Ms Blinksell and her friend Lynette Smith decided to digitalise all the artforms: prints, sculptures, poems and photographs - in one place on the blog; a community-based project forming from the ashes of black summer.
"It is our community's stories - our telling of what we have been through and saw, and continue to see," Ms Blinksell said.
"We lived through the hell of black summer on the coast.
"Many of us saw 'with our own eyes' what happens when you face a severe weather event.
"Seeing things with our own eyes is a different scenario than just hearing about something."
WOOEE launched on May 1 this year, and has been met with great community appreciation.
"So many people have expressed gratitude that stories from the bushfires were not being forgotten," Ms Blinksell said.
"It provided a collective sense of belonging - we are not in this alone."
It isn't easy to be inside your head alone after a crisis.
- Magella Blinksell
Ms Blinksell said artwork connected with people at a heart level and provided a therapeutic aspect to recovery. She said the community had come together to recover, and continued to do so through shared stories.
However the stories are not just for residents hit by Black Summer; the process of dealing with grief and trauma has universal applications.
A Facebook post by the blog was shared by a northern rivers resident with their community after the recent floods.
As stories of natural disasters increase, and the effects of each come closer and closer to the homes and hearts of residents, Ms Blinksell hopes WOOEE will provide some guidance for practical solutions bringing hope to communities, showing the strength a community can have in finding ways forward.
Artworks from WOOEE will be on display for the third consecutive year at River of Art 2022. Residents are invited to contribute to the blog until July 31 this year, after which the blog will not be added to.
"Three years doesn't get our community to full recovery," Ms Blinksell said.
"But our goal was to build a little trove of what our responses were for those tender and challenging three years after Black Summer."
The blog will become a time-capsule ensuring local stories do not dissipate as time moves on from the fires.
James Tugwell
James Tugwell is a reporter for Australian Community Media in Batemans Bay. james.tugwell@austcommunitymedia.com.au 0447 189 738
James Tugwell is a reporter for Australian Community Media in Batemans Bay. james.tugwell@austcommunitymedia.com.au 0447 189 738
