From 30 March to 15 April 2007, as an art exhibition associated with the Manning Clark House Weekend of Ideas (see this page), reknowned Melbourne artist Kate Durham's impressive SIEVX art exhibition visited Canberra.
The collection of works, that leaves nobody untouched who views the hundreds of paintings of the sinking of the refugee boat in October 2001, was displayed at the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre, and Project SafeCom's Jack Smit attended the opening.
The SIEVX sinking is one of the dark pages in Australia's history during the Howard years. Three hundred and fifty-three men, women and children drowned. Many of the women and children were enroute to find their husbands and fathers, who had sailed before them to find protection for their families from persecution in Australia.
Manning Clark House announced the exhibition as follows:
An exhibition of art work by noted Australian artist Kate Durham will be held at the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre in the North Building in Civic Square (above the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery), from 30 March to 15 April. The stunning art work relates to the sinking of the SIEV X and other refugee experiences. The exhibition is assisted by the ACT Government under the ACT Multicultural Grants Program and by funds raised from community organisations and individuals."
The exhibition was organised in conjuction with Manning Clark House by the ACT Refugee Action Committee's Ron Fraser and veteran Canberra social activist Dick Aitken. The SIEVX exhibition season at the Theo Notaras Centre was opened with speeches by refugee and Coordinator of the Sudanese Australian International Activists Group Aguil De'Chut Deng and Migration Agent Marion Lê OAM, while artist Kate Durham and organiser Dick Aitken spoke a few words of thanks.
Below is the photo collection, courtesy Frederika Steen of Brisbane's Romero Centre. Thanks Freddie! The pictures are not in any particular order. Click on the thumbnails to open the full size images.
:::More than 100 PHOTOS::: 17 February 2008: Photos: Manning Clark House Weekend of Ideas - the collection of photos taken by advocate Freddie Steen at the Manning Clark House sixth Weekend of Ideas, "A Fair Go for Refugees?" during the first weekend of April 2007 in Canberra's Manning Clark House in Forrest, ACT.
7 May 2007: Making sense at Manning Clark House - Some material presented or published following the Manning Clark House 2007 Weekend of Ideas: the SIEVX presentation by Tony Kevin in the media segment, the Agreed Statement of Principles issued by the Conference, and a Canberra Times article by John Warhurst.
7 May 2007: Dr Eva Sallis, Australian dream; Australian nightmare: Some thoughts on Multiculturalism and Racism - "...this place is called, with terrible irony, Blackster. It is the other side of town from Baxter, and, although less money is spent here, the echoes are stark, and when I thought about it, almost all generated by the fence." The Dymphna Clark Lecture at the Manning Clark House 6th Weekend of Ideas, "A Fair Go for Refugees?"
28 March to 1 April 2007: Canberra in March 07: two significant events in one significant week - Manning Clark House's Sixth Annual Weekend of Ideas: A Fair Go for Refugees?, a Talk and Dinner with Project SafeCom's Jack Smit, and a significant week of Parliament with both Houses sitting for the last week before this year's Easter recess. Make sure you're there!
5 August 2004: Tony Kevin's SIEV X book: A Certain Maritime Incident - With impressive courage and determination, Tony Kevin has unearthed the grim and deeply moving story he recounts in this remarkable book, an "always powerfully contested story" and one of "durable national significance" that has "crept into the hearts and consciences of many Australians" and must find its way to the hearts and consciences of many others...
30 October 2005: Tony Kevin's SIEV X 4th Anniversary Speech - "All of us who care - and there are many of us - can use our rights of free speech and free enquiry, and free debate on the internet, to keep the questions about SIEV X alive."
19 October 2005: The SIEV X Landmark of Conscience - "When the evening ended, senators, members of the ACT assembly, officials from museums and planning authorities, and most importantly the refugees themselves, all expressed the same view. You must build it."
18 October 2005: SIEV X four years on: still drowning in spin - Like all disasters in the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia, the SIEV X affair will not finish until all questions are answered, all documents held in secret by the Howard government are released, and all those who know things they have not told the Australian people, have been subpoenaed to testify and also tell the full and unabbreviated truth about the SIEV X disaster.
20 March 2004: Tony Kevin still says: SIEV X: Lies, lies and more lies - We will keep on talking publicly about SIEV X and asking questions about it. In that way, the truth will out, new whistleblowers will come forward over time, and the guilty will finally be held to account. This is a major story that is a long way from over.
20 February 2004: The SIEV X National Memorial Project - The SIEV X National Memorial Project is an Australia-wide Young People's Art Collaboration, to design and build a memorial to the people of SIEV X, on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, the national capital.
2 December 2003: The Australian Labor Party and SIEV X - An open letter to Labor's new leader Mark Latham, by Tony Kevin, SIEVX whistleblower. "Do you support the series of passed Senate motions calling for a full powers independent judicial inquiry into the sinking of SIEV X ? If you become Prime Minister, will you undertake to implement this Senate demand?"
22 May 2003: SIEV X and the DFAT cable: The conspiracy of silence - That such a large number of government officials .... were willing to co-operate in withholding the detailed, highly relevant information in the DFAT cable leaves little doubt that we are still far from the full truth concerning the sinking of SIEVX.
23 July 2003: John Faulkner, The Aftermath of the CMI Inquiry - "John Howard indicated that he was prepared to spend whatever money it took to deter boatpeople from arriving on the Australian mainland. But have there been other costs? What has been the cost of the Howard Government's disruption programme in Indonesia - not just the financial cost? I intend to keep asking questions until I find out. I intend to keep pressing for an independent judicial inquiry into these very serious matters."
20 May 2003: An interview with 2003 Whistleblower of the Year Tony Kevin - Former Australian diplomat Tony Kevin is convinced the SIEV X asylum-seeker tragedy will become the Howard Government's Watergate. "...the public story was not true, it did not hang together..."
Artist Kate Durham
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Kate Durham
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Kate Durham
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Kate Durham
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Aguil De'Chut Deng talks with Kate Durham
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Aguil and Kate
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The artwork speaks
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Tony Kevin chats with Kate
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Julian Burnside and x
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Marion Lê and others
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Marion Lê and others
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Listening, watching
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Marion Lê's talk
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Kate Durham and Marion Lê
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Marion Lê's talk
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Julian Burnside, Jacqui Everitt and Jack Smit
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Julian Burnside, X and Dick Aitken
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Kate McLurcan talks to X and Kate Durham
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Hassan Ghulam, Jack Smit and Julian Burnside
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Comment space
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Jack Smit, Rosemary Nairn and Jane Keogh
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Some Canberra 'Nauru' Afghanis with Marion Lê
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Marion Lê's talk
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Afghanis with Marion Lê
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X
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Afghanis with Marion Lê
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Afghanis with Marion Lê
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Dick Aitken
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Marion Lê's talk
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Hassan Ghulam
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Comment space
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Kate Durham, Julian Burnside and Jack Smit
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Watching
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Kate Durham, Jane Keogh
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Listening
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Aguil De'Chut Deng
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Aguil and Kerry Tucker
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Aguil and 2
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Jacqui Everitt, Claire Bruhns and Hadi Jawadi
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