invited by Marnie Pitts
Truganini
I chose Truganini as I have been working on a series
of drawings depicting shameful moments of Australian
history. Truganini’s story is a one of genocide: by 17,
her mother had been murdered by whalers, her
sisters abducted and sold and her fiancé murdered
and Truganini raped. The Black War was taking her
people but Truganini attempted to protect them.
Her story does not end well; almost all of the
Tasmanian indigenous people were killed. Truganini
was dug up after death and placed on display, against
her wishes and beliefs. A hundred years after her death
in 1976 her remains were cremated and scattered
in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel.
South London Women Artists I’m Inside, Ring The Bell
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