Ruth Halbert
artist, weaver
Paper boat Rud.jpg

Blog: Dear Prime Minister

On July 30 2016 I started writing letters to the Prime Minister of Australia to protest against the imprisonment and torture of the asylum seekers in the offshore detention centres of Manus Island and Nauru. I started with the intention of writing a letter a day for every person in detention until they are all freed. There are more than 1800 asylum seekers in off shore detention. These are those letters and any response from Mr Turnbull.

Witness

Dear Prime Minister,

On Friday 23 March the annual Stations of the Cross exhibition opened at Wesley Church in Perth. My artwork, 'Witness', was made for Station 6: Veronica wipes Jesus' face. In the same way that Veronica was witness and comfort to Jesus' suffering in the face of the hostility of the crowd and the might of the state and priests, so are the Australian activists witness and comfort to the refugees' suffering on Manus and Nauru.

I hand wove face cloths and invited people to stitch their response to the refugees in offshore detention. This is what men and women, of different backgrounds and political beliefs have to say  about the men, women and children on Manus and Nauru.

'Witness' (detail), 2018, Ruth Halbert, Stations of the Cross. https://www.perthunitingchurch.org.au/stations/view/station-6

'Witness' (detail), 2018, Ruth Halbert, Stations of the Cross. https://www.perthunitingchurch.org.au/stations/view/station-6

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