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MODERN DANCE . 'There’s always the grid wire, There’s sometimes a man, a stick figure, with a line on his wrist and drops of blood coming down. And when he draws his family, he draws his mother and father, and he and his sister are drawn behind the wire with tears coming all the way down to the ground.' Jacquie Everitt on Four Corners, describing the same picture the then 6-year-old Shayan Bedraie drew for six months while in the Villawood Detention Centre.

ALL VIDEO AND MUSIC BY CHRISTOPHER LAWRIE. PLEASE USE HEADPHONES

These Artworks consist of juxtaposed elements of visual, audio and text. They are not necessarily intended to be illustrative of each other.

 

M D VIDEO ART/MUSIC REFUGEE

 
0_NE0. B. | 0_NE0. | from History of Salt |from before Hof S | Trismos | Dualismos | Eternity | Interiors 2020 | CO 2 | Fire and Water | Ishikawa | Other |Rajasthan | Sanghyang | Kashmir | Refugee |Yellamma | BHIEC | The Sea of Jesus | Jui Ju Suite | Salt | A Fast Japan | Allah | The Zoids Suite
 
  NAURU 1  

MDO 75. GOVERNMENT / NAURU

The young girl a seriously ill refugee who has been held on Nauru with her parents for several years and whose name and age cannot be reported, is suffering from acute mental health issues. She is at least the seventh child to be moved from offshore islands after legal action on their behalf. A 10-year-old boy had attempted suicide three times on Nauru and Doctors said he was at critical risk of killing himself. Lawyers sought his transfer to Australia for urgent medical intervention. Justice Nye Perram said there was a “significant risk the boy would not be alive by the hearing” and ordered the boy be brought immediately to Australia for care. This was resisted by the Australian government.

The Nauru Files: Australian Immigration and Asylum: The Guardian

 

 

 
 
 
  HALLUCINATION  

MDO 23. THE HALLUCINATION

She is unsure if it is a man or a woman but it has a dark face and is the size of a child. The hallucination has threatened to kill her. At other times the hallucination is encouraging her to kill herself. During this time she gauged at her own face constantly and pulled her own hair. The child protection officer wrote ‘It was observed that she could not breathe properly and had a glazed look in her eyes.’

The Nauru Files: The Guardian

Now the swinging bridge | Is quieted with creepers | Like our tendrilled lives Basho

 

 
 
 
  HOPE  

MDO 28. NO HOPE

I don’t want to get up. I don’t want to open my eyes. There is no hope. I can’t bear to see my family. My children, my husband. I don’t want to see them. I am embarrassed in front of my children because I feel guilty, because I did something horrible to my children. Where have I brought them?

The Nauru Files: The Guardian

 

 

 

 
 
 
  MANUS  

MDO 53. MANUS ISLAND 1

Why have we been brought to Manus Island? It feels like we are at the end of the world. We are thinking this is not life. Death is better than existing like this. It There’s always the grid wire, There’s sometimes a man, a stick figure, with a line on his wrist and drops of blood coming down. And when he draws his family, he draws his mother and father, and he and his sister are drawn behind the wire with tears coming all the way down to the ground.

Jacquie Everitt on Four Corners, describing the same picture the then 6-year-old Shayan Bedraie drew for six months while in the Villawood Detention Centre

Asylum seekers write letters from Manus Island

D A B K I (Arabic Circle Dance) at the EMPIRE

ART | IS | A | CAPITALIST | TOY

 
 
 
  NAURU 2  

MDO 76. GOVERNMENT V SHAYAN BADRAIE 1

There’s always the grid wire. There’s sometimes a man, a stick figure, with a line on his wrist and drops of blood coming down. And when he draws his family, he draws his mother and father, and he and his sister are drawn behind the wire with tears coming all the way down to the ground.

Jacquie Everitt on Four Corners, describing the same picture the then 6-year-old Shayan Bedraie drew for six months while in the Villawood Detention Centre.

 

 

Gov V Shayan Baudraie PDF

 
 
 
  MANUS 2  

MDO 54. MANUS ISLAND 2

“We write this with tears, having come to your country with so much hope and expectation, only to find a policy that treats us unjustly and unfairly, without compassion or respect for our individual situations. We are so far away here, living on a remote Island, unseen, without permission yet to leave the small compound where we live. We ask the people of Australia, do not forget us or abandon us. We respect your values, your laws and your defence of the right of freedom for all people. We want that for ourselves and our children. It is why we undertook this journey.”

Transcript from World News Australia SBS Radio

Asylum seekers write letters from Manus Island

D A B K I (Arabic Circle Dance) at the EMPIRE

 
 
 
  NAURU 3  

MDO 77. GOVERNMENT V SHAYAN BADRAIE 2

There’s always the grid wire. There’s sometimes a man, a stick figure, with a line on his wrist and drops of blood coming down. And when he draws his family, he draws his mother and father, and he and his sister are drawn behind the wire with tears coming all the way down to the ground.

Jacquie Everitt on Four Corners, describing the same picture the then 6-year-old Shayan Bedraie drew for six months while in the Villawood Detention Centre.

 
 
 
  SUICIDE  

MDO 31. NAURU

She laughed at me and said ‘Do what you want, no one will stop you.’ So I cut my wrists. It was too much for me. I didn’t do it for protest. I was trying to kill myself. I wasn’t old enough to take care of my sisters. I just wanted to die. I tried to do it silently. I don’t have any plans for my future now because I still feel that I’m captured. I still feel that I’m not human. I just need to get my freedom and then I’ll try to find my way somehow

The Nauru Files: The Guardian

 
 
 
  MANNUS 3  

MDO 55. MANUS ISLAND 3

Why have we been brought to Manus Island? It feels like we are at the end of the world. We are thinking this is not life. Death is better than existing like this. It is a big world, but it feels like there is no place for us. Why is there no justice anywhere in the world for us? We are not guilty of anything but wanting freedom and safety. We have never committed a crime.

Transcript from World News Australia SBS Radio

Asylum seekers write letters from Manus Island

A | R |T | I | S | A | C | A | P | A | T | A | L | I | S | T | T | O | Y

D A B K I (Arabic Circle Dance) at the EMPIRE

 
 

 

100 DO OT SELL  

MDO 72. SEPARATION

I normally wake up at nine and I pretend that I’m asleep till 11 o’clock or sometimes 12. I start to ask God for help for two or three hours and when there is no response from God, I get up and say ‘OK there is no God, let’s get up.’ My wife and I are not going out much. We are not even talking to each other much. We are just like ghosts. Sometimes we watch TV. Yeah, that’s it. I really don’t know what I’m doing during the day. I contemplated suicide millions of times. I didn’t have enough courage to do it because I’m a Muslim and unfortunately there is only one unforgiven sin in my Religion and that is committing suicide. I’m ready to give them a signature for giving me a verdict like execution or something. I’m really happy if the Australian Government kills me.

transcript from World News Australia SBS Radio

Asylum seekers write letters from Manus Island

100
 
 
  GHOSTS  

MDO 71. GOD DOES NOT LIVE HERE ANYMORE

I normally wake up at nine and I pretend that I’m asleep till 11 o’clock or sometimes 12. I start to ask God for help for two or three hours and when there is no response from God, I get up and say ‘OK there is no God, let’s get up.’ My wife and I are not going out much. We are not even talking to each other much. We are just like ghosts. Sometimes we watch TV. Yeah, that’s it. I really don’t know what I’m doing during the day. I contemplated suicide millions of times. I didn’t have enough courage to do it because I’m a Muslim and unfortunately there is only one unforgiven sin in my Religion and that is committing suicide. I’m ready to give them a signature for giving me a verdict like execution or something. I’m really happy if the Australian Government kills me.

transcript from World News Australia SBS Radio

Asylum seekers write letters from Manus Island

 
 


 
  NAURU  

MDO 30. NO SAFETY IN NAURU

My body is here but my mind is not. I think back to my husband and my kid and think of how I have been treated. I’m tired of crying. All the time at the moment I cry. Because there is no safety in Somalia and there is no safety here in Nauru.

The Nauru Files: The Guardian

 

 
  REFUGEE  

MDO 61. REFUGEE Loss | Separation | Persecution | Religion | Racism | Self esteem | Belonging | Love | Culture | Family | Isolation

It is hard to be a Refugee. Student BHIEC

DO NOT SELL!

 
 
 
     

 

 
 
 
     

 

 
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