Know My Name

rea

Gamilaraay/Wailwan/Biripi peoples
born Coonabarabran, New South Wales 1962

PolesApart 2 2009

Gadigal Nura/Sydney

chromogenic photographs

Purchased 2010 2010.144.A-C

In this work, r e a moves through a fire-ravaged landscape near Munal/Daylesford, Victoria, dressed in a nineteenth- century mourning costume. The work is a tribute to the artist's grandmother, Ruby, and great aunt, Sophie. Survivors of the Stolen Generations, they were forcibly removed from their families as children and taken to the Cootamundra Girls' Home where they trained as domestic servants. While Ruby never saw her family again, Sophie was later able to flee, returning to her Country, where she spent the rest of her life.