The event offers much more than just free dumplings. Photo: AAP Image/Joel Carrett.
A humble dumpling is a takeout staple, a comfort food, and now, a tender way to discuss depression.
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On Saturday, February 7, a free community event, Dumplings Against Depression, will serve the latter, blending food, culture and honest conversations around mental health at the Shepparton Art Museum.
The event features a mental health and wellbeing panel chaired by Neha Samar, who said the focus was on people, not systems.
“We’re not going to have a clinical heavy conversation — it’s going to be a chat between people who are on both sides of the discussion on mental health,” she said.
Ms Samar said one of the key aims was to break down stigma by reframing mental health as an everyday part of overall wellbeing.
“Mental wellness is like physical wellness — you have to look after your mind and body for longevity, for your loved ones and for yourself,” she said.
“I hope it simplifies the conversation rather than being something that is sensationalised.
“It’s not something that should be looked down upon … it’s okay to feel a certain way because we are all human beings after all.”
Neha Samar will chair the mental health and wellbeing panel.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Panel speakers include Abdullah Naveed from the Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District; Margrette Nii, representing Shepparton’s Papua New Guinean community and PALM workers; and Cecilia Ndala, a mental health clinician at the Mental Health and Wellbeing Local.
So why dumplings?
Event organiser and Victorian Multicultural Commissioner Dr Judy Tang said the all-in-one meal was chosen deliberately as a universal connector.
“Many different cultures have their own dumplings — the ravioli is technically an Italian dumpling, and you’ve got the Indian samosa and the Polish pierogi,” she said.
“In that sense, a dumpling is quite an international and multicultural morsel that we can all have.”
Ultimately, Dr Tang said the goal was for attendees — particularly those experiencing mental health challenges — to leave feeling supported, informed, and “like they’ve got a few more resources up their sleeve to access”.
Dumplings Against Depression is on Saturday, February 7, from 10.30am to 1.30pm at the Shepparton Art Museum, 530 Wyndham St, Shepparton.
The event runs alongside Think Multicultural: Regional Futures.
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