“Parragirls Past, Present” by Jill Bennett, Alex Davies, Volker Kuchelmeister, Bonney Djuric, Lily Hibberd, Lynne Edmondson Paskovski, Gypsie Hayes, Denise Nicholas

Title:

Parragirls Past, Present

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Exhibiting Artist(s):

Symposium:

ISEA2018: 24th International Symposium on Electronic Art

Venue(s):

Durbin City Hall/Durban Art Gallery , Durban , South Africa

Artist Statement:

‘Parragirls Past, Present’ is a deeply moving immersive 360-degree virtual reality project that presents former residents’ visions of Parramatta Girls Home, a punitive Australian child welfare institution closed in 1974. This project develops new digital media approaches to testimony and memory arising from otherwise marginalised institutional experiences. Unlocking contested memories of institutional ‘care’, this collaboration between a team of UNSW Sydney media artists and former Parragirls rewrites the history of Parramatta Girls Home. Over a century, children held at this site were subjected to unwarranted punishment and abuse. Returning after 40 years, Parragirls seek out traces to substantiate what really happened here, moving through fear and futile confinement to resistance and solidarity.