Friends of Suai

VegOut donated $2,000 to a Permaculture Garden in Suai and St Kilda Artist Liz Milsom (daughter of George Milsom) and I recently took Suai Loro and Arte Moris artists Anata and Kiki there. Anata spent the whole time video taping – if you could see Arte Moris the Free Art School in Dili you would see why.

Arte Moris also have vegetable gardens, compost heaps and sculptures built from recycled bits and pieces. The boys were homesick and this was like a home away from home.

VegOut is the community garden in St Kilda established on the St Kilda Bowling club grounds. When the Bowling Club closed down a group of artists established their studios there and the lawns were converted to organic garden plots for members of the community to work.

St Kilda residents predominantly live in flats, so to have access to a garden is highly desired by some of the residents. In more recent years the group invited local/regional Produce growers to establish a Producer’s market next to the gardens on the first Saturday of every month. It has grown into a very popular event for locals. We took Anata and Kiki along because it’s a great atmosphere, but also because VegOut sell Timorese coffee there for the Friends of Suai and Timorese Melbourne residents have a preserved chilli chutney stall there. After nine years the friendship really is beginning to burrow its way into the community when this is happening.

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