Of pain and belonging - a raw reminder

There is another story to tell about our experiences in the lead up to Brave New Works #19. Sandra Hill gave an artist's talk to interested members of our community. She told us the story of her family and her journey in searching for the story of her family. She took the audience through a selection of  copies of government documentation and archived letters that related directly to her family - herself, parents, grandparents and siblings. She and those preceding generations mentioned are members of the stolen generation, where the government of the day took it upon themselves to remove part aboriginal children from their parents, and brought them up away from their families and culture. This was part of the assimilation policy of the time; the reasoning behind this was complex and misguided. Obviously the voices of dissent at the time were not strong enough to stop it from happening. Suffice to say it happened, and I felt horror at the thought that it had.

Sandra's presentation was an extremely raw and emotional experience. The pleading letters from the parents of the children that had been taken were heartbreaking. She showed us letters that asked, extremely politely, to see their children, or just to know where the children were.  The pleas were invariably declined. The worst for me was a letter from Sandra's grandmother, old and going blind, asking to know where her children were so she could see them before she went blind.  And  the request was denied ... Can you imagine that? It was by chance in 1983 that Sandra's sister discovered that their father was still alive and they began the journey of connecting with their missing family.

The image I have chosen is a quiet view of Wilson Inlet,
part of the country to which Sandra has familial kinship links.

When we turned up at our rehearsals on the Kwoorabup trail the next day, those of us who had been to Sandra's talk were in a stunned and emotionally raw state. It really brought home to us the power of some of the issues we were attempting to address in our performance on the trail. Coming from a family where I know my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, great aunts and uncles it is hard to imagine being deprived of all that. It is equally hard to imagine deliberately setting out to do that to other families ... 

I thank the generosity of people like Sandra who share their story, despite the pain each retelling must involve. It is personal stories like this that help us to understand the multi-generational disconnection that has been inflicted upon our indigenous people. Through understanding I hope we can begin to build a better relationship between everyone here in Australia.


Currently there is an exhibition on at Indigenart -Mossensen Galleries, Subiaco featuring the works of Sandra Hill, Irwin Lewis and Pauline Moran called Cause and Effect. It continues till 12th May. The gallery describes the works as reflecting upon and responding to the effects of the government policies enacted in the 1905 Aborigines Act and the Assimilation policies of the 1950's and 1960's. These policies had 'irreversibly destructive effects upon Aboriginal families and communities, their cultural traditions and their inherent connection to traditional lands'.

Walking on the white side Sandra Hill
Image from Indigenart website

Link to article about Sandra Hill in the Donnybrook Mail by Nina Smith.
Link to Indigenart - Mossensen Galleries.

By the river - Mandjar Kwoorabup

While we were rehearsing at one end of the Kwoorabup trail, at the other end closer to town, indigenous artists Sandra Hill and Norma McDonald were creating a series of site specific ephemeral artworks on the trail. This was the Mandjar Kwoorabup project designed to give a taste of creating site specific environmental artworks to other indigenous people in the Great Southern region. This again was part of the Denmark Art's Brave New Works community arts festival. There was a fantastic turnout of both indigenous and non indigenous people including children who came along to help out or hang out to see what was going on. Apart from being an opportunity for learning from successful indigenous artists, the project has the long term vision that the creation of site specific artworks on Country by indigenous artists, will help people respect and value a connection to Country.

Paperbark space in memory of ancestors. 

Spirit door - dyes, resins, natural materials, leaves.

Closeup resin dyed strips 

Sandra Hill planned the artworks in minute detail, and Norma brought a wealth of working knowledge about natural resins and dyes. I headed down there a few times to help out and found myself knitting string into odd shaped free form pieces that were component parts of a large 'stretched net' that Sandra completed on the last day. The artworks were made entirely from natural fabrics, paper, natural resins and dyes and found materials. The first work on the trail is a space dedicated to the memory of the ancestors, the indigenous people who lived here in the past. It is a quiet meditative space amongst the paperbarks beside the river. The lengths of dyed cloth and strips enveloping and fluttering in the breezes.Messages written by participants hand on paper mobiles spinning from the branches.

Drawing made by indigenous participants 

Drawing made by indigenous participants - language

A series of drawings in resin hang along the trail made by indigenous participants.


The next big work is based on a mallee fowl nest. The mallee fowl is a native bird that makes a huge mound of plant material in which it lays and buries its eggs. The heat from the composting of the plant matter incubates the eggs. The adult birds maintain the mound and monitor the temperature adding and removing plant litter as needed. When the young hatch they are fully self reliant. The mallee fowl are an endangered species here in Western Australia. For the artwork a large structure was made from found materials with a hollow in the centre. This centre was decorated with dyed and resinous strips and messages written by community members were dropped in the centre. This nest structure represents everyone's need for home and family.

Sandra Hill ,left, and Norma McDonald, right, in front row with helpers behind.
This is looking down into the nest.
Photo by Mike Hemmings.

The large nest beside the river.

Looking inside the nest with resinous strips and messages.

The final artwork by Sandra on the trail is this one, based on the idea of a net. The river and fishing were important in the physical and spiritual lives for the original inhabitants of this region. This is why Sandra chose the net as it was an important metaphor for her. Members of the community each knitted unique pieces of 'net' with string..  These were then dyed, then stitched together and stretched amongst the logs and stumps. This piece represents the need for everyone in the community to work together to create a positive future together.

Closeup of the 'net'.

The 'net' in full view against the river.

 All the unattributed photos were taken by me.

Resin coated leaf

More photos by Mike Hemmings here.