UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Stories from Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disabilities
Warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders:
This website contains images of deceased people.
Stories from Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disabilities
Warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders:
This website contains images of deceased people.
"I would like to show my respect to the traditional custodians of the land on which the project was conceived and realised, and to acknowledge their Elders, past and present. The Unfinished Business project would not exist without the guidance and cultural knowledge of the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have contributed to it."
The exhibition consists of thirty backlit 3D lenticular photographic portraits of the participants and video interviews. The 3D lenticular process itself, intensifies the emotion felt by the audience. The desire to reach out and touch the image, invites the audience to transfer the physical desire into an emotional one, and to reach out emotionally to the humanity that entwines us all together. Aiming to reveal the unique essence of each person’s story, the images take the viewer into a new visual realm by presenting these narratives in a more personal, in-depth way. Through the accompanying documentary film and text the audience has the opportunity to hear the participants speak in their own words, which draws them closer, into the still, penetrating gaze of the participants’ faces, forming a close emotional connection and transcending the traditional audience-subject divide. ‘We cannot argue’ says the artist, Belinda Mason, ‘when someone says, ”I feel” – it is not our right. It is part of our own journey to learn empathy rather than compassion. Our own reaction exposes us to ourselves, and our ability to listen when someone lays their naked soul in our path.’
Originally launched in September 2013, Unfinished Business was opened at the Palais des Nations in Geneva by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, then Director General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, and Peter Woolcott, Australia’s then Ambassador to the United Nations. Unfinished Business was displayed to coincide with the 24th Session of the Human Rights Council and the 8th sitting of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The project was supported by the First Peoples Disability Network and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, through the Australian Mission in Geneva with the support of was supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In December 2013 the exhibition was displayed at the World Health Organisation Headquarters in Geneva before becoming a part of the Australian Government contribution to the United Nations 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Persons as part of the Australian Government contribution to the event.
Unfinished Business was acquired through the Cultural Gifts Program by the Australian Museum. To exhibit the work at your gallery, please contact the Australian Museum direct.
A limited edition book of the stories and portraits is available. If you would like a copy of the book, please send a large size self-addressed large express post bag to Belinda Mason PO Box 326, North Sydney NSW 2060, Australia.
Thank you to aunty Gayle Kennedy and all the narrators who have given their support to the participants and the concerns that they have expressed. All the narrators have contributed in their own right to improving the human rights and lives of all Australian aboriginal and Torres strait islanders.
Thank you to Imogen Yang for providing the Audio description for people with vision impairments.
Uncle Merv Bishop, Dr Tom Shakespeare, Aunty Gayle Rankine, Uncle Lester Bostock, Damian Griffis, June Riemer, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Peter Woolcott, Ruth Stone, Philippa King, Rick Macourt, Katina Clarke, John Olenich, Sonia Vandenberg, Anastasia Carayanides, Louise Abbott, Lauren Stasinowsky, Uncle Lez Malezer, Mick Gooda, Allyson Campbell, Aunty Maureen Logan, Uncle Paul Calcott, Aunty Kay Sadler, Uncle John Baxter, Uncle Len Clarke, Dr John Gilroy, Gayle Kennedy, Leanne Miller, Clare O’Kelly, Anja Bonnard, Jaki Barton, Gay English, Mia Christophersen, Chris Black, Angelica Spraggins, Tomas Allen, Guila Smythies, Diane Kingston, Elizabeth Lockwood, Josephine Cashman, Liz Forsyth, Shane Rendalls, Liz Rendalls, Shellee Murphy-Oates, Catherine Hunter, Sarah Brown, John Trezise, Scott McCall, Annie McCall, Bridget Guthrie, Lynette Aitchison, Kon Gouriotis, Catherine Spooner, Caris Jalla, Uncle Darryl Kickett, Robert & Selina Eggington, Bronya Dineen, John Drake, Victoria Jefferys, Barb McGrady, Uncle Lyall Munro, Lorna Munro, Uncle David Williams, Gerry Georgatos, Paddy Gibson, Patrick McGee, Ray Jackson, Charlie Djordila, Blake Nathan Carter, Bruce Marshall, Peter Knott, Dev Lengjel, Helen Lewkowicz, Lisa Cahill, Jenny Muir, Annabelle Warren, Paula Kaye, Denise Beckwith, Sharon Barclay, Betty Burke, Sara Irvine, Kristina Karasulas, Karen Leffers, Aunty Clair Jackson, Graham ‘Buzz’ Bidstrup, Glenn Mitchell, Jacky Que Youshan, Tony Heaton, Imogen Yang, Dr Gareth Owen, Mary and Ottkar Knierim, Chris Knierim, Dieter Knierim, Liam Knierim, Dieter Vollbehr and Barbara Mason.
