The Siev X Memorial Project

Full description

RESEARCH BACKGROUND
This project remembers the 353 refugees who drowned in the 2001 sinking of a 'suspect illegal entry vessel'. It seeks to raise awareness of the ongoing humanitarian crisis of refugee rights internationally, abd the personal tragedies implicit in this single instance. The project was initiated in 2002 by psychologist and parenting author, Steve Biddulph, Uniting Church Minister, Rob Horsfeld, and artist and project manager Beth Gibbings. Prof Ware was invited to join as landscape architect to assist in establishing an inclusive and educational design process. The ensuing ideas resulted in a nation-wide production of decorated timber poles representing the victims and envisaged an arrangement of the poles in Canberra's Weston Park.

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION
The project sought to raise awareness of the tragedy of the particular incident and the surrounding politics. It explored possibilities for effective popular expression of concerns regarding both, in the form of a physical, if ephemeral, monument. This political and social activism also sought to better understand and assist in the grieving process. This is typical of memorials but is made more difficult when reaching across the divide of countries, cultures and even dividing lines of the law. The project received overwhelming support across all areas of contemporary Australian society. Negotiations to make the temporary erection of the memorial poles permanent continue.

RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
The project received the following awards and recognition: 2007 AILA Victoria Award of Merit; 2007 AILA Victoria Special Jury Citation for New Directions: Socially Responsible Design; 2008 AILA National Design Award.