Melbourne Music Week dives into Kensington 

Soul-searching insights into Kensington’s identity, culture, and sense of community were on display in Melbourne Music Week’s (MMW’s) new podcast Narratives of Neighbourhood.

Kensington was explored as part of the four-part series on Melbourne neighbourhoods – alongside North Melbourne, Kensington, Carlton, Docklands and Southbank.

Hosted by Xan Coppinger,  the series explores life in four different suburbs through conversations with local community members, providing them with a platform to share their stories. Listeners “will discover” the music and culture of North Melbourne and Kensington, among others, with the “key question” posed as “how to engage more fully with our neighbours” through thinking about “the lived experiences” of those around us.
Arranging a complex atmospheric and musical sound-bed throughout, the Kensington edition begins with Bec Smith, community education coordinator at Kensington Neighbourhood House and long-time resident of the suburb. Ms Smith details the history of the house and the ongoing commitment by women and children to respond to community needs independently.

Uncle Colin Hunter, a “proud Wurundjeri elder”, is introduced to the show next, and an immediate evisceration of European colonisation ensues, highlighting the introduction of maps and economic development as the prime reason for tribal disputes in “Naarm”. It also shows the condemnation of misrepresentation of Indigenous members of society, while also highlighting the need for security and the “basic human rights” to be ensured for Indigenous people.
The importance of the “swamplands” in Kensington to indigenous tribes as a means of food is also discussed, as well as the pollution of the Yarra and Maribyrnong Rivers through discarding noxious waste in the middle of the 20th century.

The geographical layout of both Melbourne and Kensington is explored by geographer Soul Charles who discusses the way in which Melbourne was designed to transport goods and services from industrial outposts into the city, rather than for people to be able to travel around the city. The dichotomy between older cities, such as London, versus newer ones such as Melbourne, is discussed in relation to their development.
The show finishes with an immersion into Transition Town, with guest Jacqueline Van Heerden, a permaculturalist, detailing the specific demands of climate change and affordability on a community-based scale. Her co-convened not-for-profit is attempting to aid local communities in their transition to a more environmentally-sustainable lifestyle.