When: Thursday 2 October 2008, 7pm
Where: RMIT building 50, Orr St (off Victoria St) Carlton
The SIEV X Memorial Project remembers those who drowned in the 2001 sinking of a ‘Suspect Illegal Entry Vessel’ when 353 refugees lost their lives. It seeks to raise awareness of the urgent ongoing humanitarian crisis of refugee rights around the world, as well as the personal tragedy of those involved in this single instance. The project was initiated in 2002 by Steve Biddulph, a psychologist and parenting author, Rob Horsfeld, a uniting Church Minister, and Beth Gibbings, an artist and project manager. In late 2002 they asked Dr. Sue Anne Ware to join them as their landscape architect.
The memorial project involved a range of people and age groups from communities throughout Australia. For Sue Anne, it meant operating outside of the typical range of skills and assistance for which landscape architects are recognised, as well as reinforcing the direct relevance of such assistance to the successful physical construction of environments. The resulting sculptural memorial in the public realm can be seen as a physical catalyst for social change.
Sue Anne is an associate professor and co-ordinates postgraduate studies in landscape architecture at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Her research and design work explores how contemporary memorial design can reflect ephemeral conditions of site and memory while maintaining their importance in the public landscape, both locally and overseas. She has published widely with regard to concepts engaging in anti-memorials and received various awards in recognition of her design work from the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects.
Entry by gold coin donation. Refreshments provided.
Download a PDF flyer for the event here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/6229755/081002SIEV-X
