Shamsiya Hussainpoor
Local Belgravian, Dani-Ela Kayler has plans to reinvigorate the community’s spirit and put the heart back into Belgrave through her Purple Pea Wonders project.
Earlier this year, she was successful getting a small grant to seed a new project.
“The project evolved quite unexpectedly,” she said.
“When I was at a Yarra Ranges Council event in November 2023, people were talking about wanting to energise the community’s spirit and there was a psychologist who spoke on hope and that really resonated deeply.”
“And walking away from that event and speaking to a few people who asked what are you doing Dani-Ela? Have you got a new project? I just heard myself speaking about it – I’ve got this purple pea idea.”
Ms Kayler has been running a few projects in the hills, including Here Me – Teenagers Take Up Space which ran over Easter from 2019 to 2021.
She said from her own journey of managing chronic pain, loss of hope and joy, she found herself finding the courage to appreciate the small, everyday things that we often take for granted.
“I always found these little bits of encouragement in what I heard or what I might have read in a little text message or that serendipitous moment when you know someone just called or text the right time or when I saw something beautiful in nature or something that caused me to smile unexpectedly…that was the little thread of hope and encouragement to keep going,” she said.
Her projects have always encouraged her to make the invisible feelings visible – the feelings we all often hide and don’t like talking about.
Ms Kayler has been researching the impacts of serendipity and gathering information to develop art workshops for adults to remember or (re-learn) play, creatively and curiosity.
Purple Pea Wonders is an art installation of sorts, with a twist. It comes as a response to instilling hope and community engagement back into the community, specifically Belgrave.
The project in a nutshell involves having name-place sized cards with a whimsical phrase that are displayed in between merchandise, books and tables in five locations in Belgrave for people to “discover” over a four week period.
Phrases draw on well-known pearls of wisdom and play on the words, “peas” and “please” for instance, “peas welcome stillness,” “peas stick together”, “peas dance more often”, ” peas keep showing up.”
There are 50 different phrases to find.
Inside the card is a little message to explain the intention of the card, inviting the finder to keep it or pass it on.
A QR-Code invites the finder to briefly share their experience via Jotform and to post on social media. This is to track the card’s journey and its impact on someone’s day.
Ms Kayler will also be sharing clues to find the other 5-participating businesses where people can find more Pea cards.
Peas are metaphors for the people and versions of ourselves that we’d like to see more often.
“When I was unwell, it was those little things people told me that brought me joy and gave me hope again,” she said.
“I was surprised and delighted that it resonated with my audience and people were crying and some ate the pea; it was a profound experience for the audience and myself.”
The intention is to create a moment of pause, to delight in discovery and spark imagination, consequently offering encouragement and a request to pay-it-forward.
The cards are like little seeds planted in different places for people to discover when they are least expecting it.
“The cards might be in a frame of mind where they’re looking for a book or they’re sitting there having a cup of coffee, or they might be looking for a gift for someone else or for themselves,” she said.
Ms Kayler has connected with businesses in Belgrave that will help her plant those little seeds.
The businesses are there to guide her on where the cards should be placed where people are paying more attention.
“I would love for the community to engage with the work,” she said.
“Kindness and compassion go a long way – a reminder we all need, especially when life demands so much from us…peas remain kind when messy or angry.”
The launch date has yet to be announced, but it will be in the next two weeks.
