Valetudo: A eulogy to Aunt (Ida) West

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Background: This research applied an innovative artistic methodology informed by primary materials from Tasmanian Aborigine elders, engaging with transcultural and postcolonial interaction through material processes and customs. The creative inquiry builds upon feminist media theorist Raka Shome’s critical examination of ‘South to South media relations … outside of logics of Western liberalism’ (2017, 70), to mediate and validate nuanced, situated micro-action within the contexts of art and indigeneity. The work references the form of a Haitian Vodou prayer flag that connects mortal and transcendental presence, and extends dormant histories through emergent mobile technologies.

Contribution: Valetudo is a 180cm x 300cm hand-sequined, embroidered polyester flag, with both material and online dimensions: when scanned by a smart phone the work links to a website about late Tasmanian Aboriginal Elder, Aunty Ida West. The website details the lifetime of ‘Aunty Ida’, who pursued justice for Indigenous people and pushed for a healing garden to be situated at Wybalenna – the site on Flinders Island where exiled Tasmanian Aboriginal people were incarcerated from the 1830s. The work breaks from conventions of textile creation to pair augmented reality and indigenous histories, contributing to emergent research in expanded textile practice.

Significance: Valetudo was a finalist for Whyalla Art Prize, a significant biennial award and exhibition of contemporary arts in Australia. The work was exhibited at Devonport Regional Gallery, featured in the prominent arts magazine ArtMonthly and received press coverage via outlets such as the ABC.