All We Can’t See - Illustrating the Nauru Files
In August 2016 The Guardian published The Nauru Files, leaked incident reports written by staff in Australia’s detention centre on Nauru between 2013 and 2015.
These files detail 2,116 separate incidents, including many cases of assault, sexual abuse, self-harm, child abuse and abhorrent living conditions endured by asylum seekers and refugees in the care of the Australian Government. Despite the harrowing nature of the files, the situation remains and the abuse is ongoing.
In the absence of media access to the island, our objective is to illustrate these stories through creative expression, using art to shed light on all we can’t see.
Incident Report 05 AUGUST 2014
Clients complained to SCA worker that cockroaches have crawled over him throughout the night and his children are not sleeping due to fear of the bugs
Fever Dream (Nauru): This work imagines the fear of a feverish and sleep-deprived child. Overgrown, sticky-legged monsters crawl out from the darkness of the jungle to scuttle over small, sweaty bodies night after night, after night. The satin ribbon binding was given to me by a friend, a leftover from a well-loved blanket. In the sky, the all-seeing Southern Cross is formed by five shells found on an idyllic beach in Australia - shores that so many people have been so desperate to reach.
Fever Dream (Nauru), 2018. Velvet, satin, metallic thread, sequins, glass.