REVIEW BY MARGARITA WINDISCH
Shadowland
At the Footscray Community Arts Centre,
45 Moreland Street,
Footscray
Until October 10.
A close collaboration between Melbourne photographer Viv Mehes and a group of refugees living on temporary protection visas has created Shadowland, an exhibition of photographs and narrative stories through which TPV-holders Wiam, Usama, Shafiqa, Lailya, Masoud and Mohammed speak of their exile from their home countries, their struggle to find a safe haven in Australia and their hopes for the future.
The exhibition tells a tale of courage and dignity as the six refugees battle to live in the uncertain shadowland of the new open-ended rolling visas. "On a rolling visa we can be deported any day", says Mohammed.
Mehes, a well-established Melbourne-based artist and photographer, tries to capture the stories behind people's experiences to create a sense of history and change. Coming from a migrant background herself, the themes of immigration, loss and belonging are central to Mehes' work.
The exhibition is a very illustrative example of her work. It is very real, very deep and intensely human. Looking at the images, it becomes quickly apparent that there is a relationship between the artist and her subjects that extends well beyond the superficial, creating an intimacy for the viewer that can only be established through trust and time.
Massive portrait banners welcome the viewer into an intimate room in which stark black and white photographs tell the story of the six refugees' flight from their home countries, their journeys to Australia and their lives in our community.
The portraits seem disconnected, the facial expressions elusive, removed. Somehow the viewer can sense that the journey is not over yet. There is no rest in the eyes; the strain of the past combined with the uncertainty of the future is omnipresent and seeps out of the images into the room. It makes you nervous, it smells dangerous.
Small suitcases with items chosen by the participants are placed on chairs near the photographs. According to Mehes they have multiple meanings, from representing the suitcase the refugees used to escape, to their court cases where they are assessed on their status and worthiness to become Australian residents. It works well. Overcoming the initial feeling of prying into someone's personal belongings, inspecting the cases connects the viewer with the reality of refugee life and plight.
Mehes explained that she worked closely with the participants over an 18-month period, during which they guided her and informed the process of creating the artwork.
The idea for the exhibition came from Mehes' many visits to detainees held at the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre in Melbourne throughout 2001. "It became clear to me that the stories of their experiences desperately needed to be told, not only to work against the lies, fear and prejudice which were magnified by asylum seekers' forced invisibility, but also to contribute to our own histories of what is taking place in our country", she said.
While being a documentary photographer, she argues that it is impossible for her to merely document her subjects without making her own political perspective clear; artists interpretations should provoke and make the viewer question his or her own assumptions.
"This work brings the human face of the current wave of refugees to the wider public and aims to contribute to the salvaging of human dignity for them and for us all", she says. "All refugees have similar stories to tell regardless of how and when they came to our shores. No-one is immune. Luck and the winds of chance can change direction at any time and transform anyone's fate."
This exhibition is an important creative contribution to the struggle for refugee rights. It helps to debunk many myths surrounding refugees and "re-humanises" their experiences and journeys. A must-see.
Details of the Shadowland exhibition can be found at or by phoning the Footscray Community Arts Centre on (03) 9362 8888.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, October 6, 2004.
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