About the Project

Join us on a journey that connects countries and lives, past and present, humans and nature. 

Migratory shorebirds are a beautiful and rich metaphor for human migration. Like immigrants – even those most happily settled – shorebirds always feel the pull of their two homes. But unlike us, they are literally bound to fly forever between their breeding grounds in Alaska and Siberia and their summer home on the shores of Australia and New Zealand. No sooner are they in one hemisphere than they feel the pull of the other. It is a mythic existence of repetition and endurance that universalizes both the emotional and physical hardships, and the great and abiding hope, of migration.

However, shorebird numbers are dropping fast. Their flight-path between the hemispheres links 23 countries* and in almost every country in this belt of economic growth along the Asian seaboard, shorebird wetland habitat is being reclaimed by industry. Species numbers are dropping at an alarming rate – populations of the critically endangered Eastern Curlew have decreased by 80% in the last 20 years.
 
This is why we hope, through our project, to create compassion and understanding for both the human travellers who come to our country in the hope of finding a safe haven and for the shorebirds that rely on our coastal wetlands.

Image left: Minh Phan, Flight of the Phoenix, 2016, still from video, 2 mins, 24 seconds.
Image top: Kate Gorringe-Smith.

Who we are

The participating artists were: Kate Gorringe-Smith (curating artist); Cui Xiao Hua; Kyoko Imazu; Nakarin Jaikla; Vicki Kinai; Andrej Kocis; Helen Kocis Edwards; Khue Nguyen; Minh Phan; En En See; Pamela See; Ema Shin; My Le Thi; Pimpisa Tinpalit, Haily Tran and Rebecca Young. Through installation, video, original prints, sculpture, traditional Chinese paper-cutting, performance and sound we investigated our heritage as refugees, migrants and travellers through the lens of shorebird migration.

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Inspiration for From a Home to a Home: A Story of Migration

The inspiration for this new project came from having the Flyway Print Exchange exhibited at the Melbourne Immigration Museum from December 2015 to April 2016. Concurrent with and related to the exhibition was a public art project, ‘Par Avian’ where visitors could contribute their own answers to questions like ‘Where is home?’ and ‘What is my migration story?'. Visitors were invited to write their answers on circular pieces of paper and to decorate them with stamps featuring migratory shorebirds (Image attached). The stories of the shorebirds was also provided. 

The response was overwhelming. Over 4,000 answers were strung up over the weeks of the exhibition, from the obvious ‘Home is where the heart is’ to longer tales of hope and sadness. There was a real connection between the shorebirds courageous flights between their homes at the north and south ends of the globe and the museum visitors’ experiences in finding a safe home for themselves and their families.

'Home used to be the farm on the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand when I was a child with Mum and Dad and my brothers and sister. 
Now I feel lost, my mother, brother and sister are in Australia. I miss them but I do not feel at home in Australia or New Zealand or the farm. 
I feel old and full of memories.’

'Home is with the people you love and the ones who respect you as the person you are.’

'I’m from Korea. My home is Korea. After military service I travelled here. I went to many cities in Australia. I feel that our society in Korea needs to respect
  different races like Australians. But I love Korea. Although I am poor at English. I wrote my heart in this. I love Korea!!!’

The Project
In ‘From a Home to a Home’, fifteen artists with backgrounds in 8 different Flyway countries created new work in a variety of media (installation, video, printmaking, sculpture, traditional Chinese paper-cutting, weaving and painting) that examined human refugee and migration experiences through the universalising lens of shorebird migration. One artist, Minh Phan, writes:

'I was introduced to From a Home to a Home via Multicultural Arts Victoria and was immediately interested after reading Kate's project description and looking at her work on line. I was particularly drawn to the poetry of shorebirds as a metaphor for the exploration of migration. This resonated with my own interest in diaspora and identity, having come to Australia as a seven year old Vietnamese boat person. The opportunity to be in a group show with the central theme close to my heart was irresistible.’

*The countries of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway are the USA (Alaska); Russia (Siberia); Mongolia; China; North Korea; South Korea; Japan; the Philippines; Vietnam; Laos; Thailand; Cambodia; Myanmar; Bangladesh; India; Malaysia; Singapore; Brunei; Indonesia; Timor; Papua New Guinea; Australia and New Zealand.

When and where
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From a Home to a Home: a Story of Migration
BSG November 25 - December 8
Opened 6-8 pm Friday November 25 by Trinidad Estay of Multicultural Arts Victoria

BSG (Brunswick Street Gallery), 322 Brunswick St., Fitzroy Victoria
info@bsgart.com.au 
brunswickstreetgallery.squarespace.com 
Gallery Tues–Friday 10–8pm
Sat–Sun 10–6pm