Above: Cutting, dying and styling hair during the Summit Salon at the Regional Arts Australia Summit Arts & Edges in Kalgoorlie.
Below: (L) Demonstrating how to put in a hair diamanté; (C) Plaiting and styling; (R) Demonstrating hair stencils.
Social Change Hairdressing
All around the world people are using hair and hairdressing to make change in their community. The salon space, and the exchange between people which occurs there, is a powerful opportunity for connection, transformation and creative work.
Internationally, health organisations, education programs, disaster response teams, culture programs and development agencies are working with hair salons and barbershops to contact, engage and assist people and communities.
“I just want thank you guys so much, we had a wonderful time at the Palace last night and I think it was all because of meeting people here (in Sir Madam Salon). It was like we had our own little group of people…It made all the difference, thank you so much.”
This is an emerging practice in Australia which is getting excellent artistic and engagement results in diverse communities.
Our team member Kate Fielding was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to research social change hairdressing programs around the world. You can download a copy of her report here.
