Episode 4: Community, Collaboration and Kotahitanga

Episode 4 of the Home Ground Audio Journey, Take The Space

Home Ground, a creative collective dedicated to empowering women in the justice system through creativity, is excited to share the new episode of "Take the Space".

Community, Collaboration and Kotahitanga will be available on Wellington Access Radio 6pm on Tuesday 25th of March 2025.

The Home Ground Collective, a community of artists (inside and outside of prison), uses dance, performance, writing, music, and visual arts to address the issues women and whānau face within the justice system. This project gives voice to women reclaiming their identities and navigating systemic challenges in creative ways.

Take the Space invites you into a world where the voices of women impacted by the justice system are heard, valued, and amplified. In this audio journey, the Home Ground Collective shares their stories of survival, strength, and creativity, taking control of their own narratives and shaping the future of the justice system.

Community, Collaboration and Kotahitanga

In this episode we are talking about community, collaborations and the many different parts to the creative process. It takes a community to build a community. Everything Home Ground achieves is because of the many hands, minds and hearts that bring it all together.

We believe that, in collaborating with each other, artists, participants, organisations, partners and the local community - Home Ground becomes what it needs to be.

Home Ground supports women through creative arts and well-being practices, establishing a place for creative practice in the community or a prison. We facilitate the difficult transition between prisons and communities, assisting wāhine to create opportunities for reconnection to themselves and others.

Why do we collaborate with artists and co-create with women? Creating in isolation leads to doing what "you" believe is best. Co-creating means developing solutions "with" rather than for. Encouraging wāhine to shape their own healing processes means collaborating on solutions rather than imposing them.

In this episode you will hear collective poems, shared music making, soundscapes of collaboration in different places, we collaborate in lots of different ways, with all sorts of people. Sharing our stories, understanding our collective wisdom, building community, collaborating together, we reach the goal of kotahitanga.

Call to Action

Our call to action this week is to understand that sharing our stories, understanding our collective wisdom, building community, collaborating together, we reach the goal of kotahitanga.

Toitū Te Tiriti

Why "Take the Space" Matters

The Home Ground Podcast aims to amplify voices that are often overlooked in the mainstream conversation about justice reform. Through this podcast, the Home Ground Collective is creating a platform for women who have been incarcerated or impacted by the justice system to speak for themselves, tell their stories, and reclaim their narrative. With each episode, listeners will hear how the arts — in all its forms — are used as tools for healing, empowerment, and social change.

“We are telling our stories on our own terms, in our own voices,” says a Home Ground participant. “It’s time for us to take the space that has always been ours, and to invite others to join us in creating a more just and compassionate world.”

Where to Listen