From dawn to dusk

Drawing on longstanding cultural practice and influenced by elements of Anzac Day Ceremonies, this commemorative contemporary artwork by Cassie Leatham (Taungurung/Wurundjeri), speaks to the legacy and experience of conflict through its interpretation of the grief of war widows and the significance of remembrance. It encourages dialogue as it concerns the long history of Kulin nation serving Australia in the armed forces, whist also relating to pre-Federation Frontier Violence that decimated the population of Kulin tribes.

Of her work, Leatham described how when a woman loses her husband in the Taungurung/Wurundjeri clans, she was bestowed to wear a pipeclay skull cap to mourn her loss. "As time went by and she finished mourning, the skull cap was removed and placed with her deceased and she could then move forward. This piece represents Kulin nation and ones loss in war and the weaving is overcoming layers of grief and distress of a loved one missing from one’s life, native feathers of the king parrot are the arms opening up to release ones spirit into the afterlife and heal the spirit left behind. Lest We forget” (Cassie Leatham, 2019).

The base of the sculpture is formed from an upturned pipeclay skull cap, and the red and black of the King Parrot feathers allude to the colour of bloodshed, whilst also referencing the colour of plastic poppies issued at war memorial around Australia. The title of the artwork echoes the lines "At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them" from the Ode of Remembrance.

While 1235 Aboriginal Australians are known to have attempted enlistment in the First World War, their service has not always been well recognised. Wurundjeri elders, led by Aunty Dot Peters, initiated a Victorian Indigenous Remembrance service, now held each year on 31 May at the Shrine of Remembrance.