AustLit

'We can learn most from those who think differently. In my culture, Aboriginal culture, learning about other people and the world we share is a sacred duty. Adulthood requires it; full citizenship in an Aboriginal nation demands a journey towards intense curiosity, attentiveness and deep reflection. Those without these qualities are not listened to in the same way, and are more or less regarded as children. Australians, for the most part, are childlike in this sense. And children can be cruel.' (Introduction)

Author's note: Excerpt from Heart’s Tongue performed at Castlemaine State Festival 2015 Dja Dja Wurrung Country–Castlemaine. With gratitude to, and respect for, the Dja Dja Wurrung, Waywurru and Barkindji peoples

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We made this piece of work because we wanted to perform a possible process of seeking ways of being that show the beauty of encountering an-other with the many complexities that involves. For us, it is a poetics of being, not as disembodied philosophy but rooted in the earth, water, bodies, particular histories, the sensual and language. We wanted to perform possibilities of relationship that work to find places that complicate and shift fixed and binary thinking. Our writing together and subsequent performance was an attempt to move toward a language that grows from shared experiences and deeply held understandings of, and desires for, the world—including the sovereignty of an-other. We wanted to perform both the experiences of coming to ends that trail off into unshareable places; knowledges and experiences that are irrecoverably different as well as experiences of deep meeting. And importantly we wanted to reinvest the word and concept of “boat” with a shared commitment to love. As a starting point we worked from Sohrab Sepehri’s poem, “The Address.”

Author's note: 'To all asylum seekers all over the world; to anyone who has a sadness story in his/her life. Be strong. Be like the soaring birds. Allah (God) never forgets anyone.'

'The following lines are the translation of my own piece. I translate this on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, traditional custodians of this land.' (Introduction)

'My sculpture, "Love," is constituted from three calligraphic characters in the Farsi alphabet. When connected, the characters form the word ‘love.’ In this piece they are set apart to signify heartbreak. The inspiration for the sculpture is my personal heartbreak at the cruel treatment of refugees by successive Australian governments. Having been the recipient of such a treatment I created this piece with the intention of gifting it to the Parliament House as a reminder of love as well as the heartbreak cruel political decisions can cause in fellow human beings.' (Introduction)