Fijian graves are decorated to commemorate those lost. Every time you visit a family member’s grave, there is an expectation that you bring decorative fabrics with you, to decorate their grave. This work looks to replicate this practice, using fabrics of loved ones lost in our own family. Working together with others in community workshops, this work features fabrics ranging from flannel to doilies, loud bula print to tablecloth material, all coming together to form a collaborative commemorative installation.
Karlina Mitchell and Lee Mitchell were supported by Cumberland City Council with a HIDDEN 2023 community workshop at the Granville Centre. Also supported by the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre in Katoomba with community workshop spaces.
You can listen to our audio here.
Our first workshop was at Granville Centre, supported by the Cumberland City Council. We had a lovely group of people attend, huge thank you to Dona, Talei, Nedean, Marina & Tina, who all created work that is part of the final sculpture. Also a thank you to my mum and friend Va who brought food, you can’t have a Fijian gathering without food!
Following the workshop in Granville, we were kindly given the workshop space at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre in Katoomba for 3 days. We had WeiZen, Dona, Heather, Adriana, Kerren, Virginia, Ann, Rhonda and EKaterina all create pieces that are now part of the sculpture. Big thank you to all of the participants and to the BM Cultural Centre for providing the space for us to create.
