Melbourne-based femicide researcher, anti-violence advocate and journalist Sherele Moody has instigated the creation of a mural to commemorate the lives of women and children lost to violence in Australia.
The mural, which covers a wall measuring 6 x 3 metres, will be painted at the entry to Hosier Lane in inner city Melbourne between Thursday, March 3 and Friday, March 4.
Part of the RED HEART Campaign, the project is the first of its kind in the country and will be based on the Australian Femicide and Child Death Map — an interactive memorial that charts Australian women and children who have lost their lives to forms of violence or neglect.
“The Memorial also holds the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children lost to violence and (in limited cases) some of these victims are named and their images are used,” Moody wrote on the campaign’s website.
The mural, the Memorial to Women and Children Lost to Violence, was inspired by the memories of Stacey-Ann Tracy, a 9-year old girl who was murdered in 1990, and Sandra Dorothy Bacon, who was 5 when she was murdered in 1962 by the same man — Sherele Moody’s stepfather.
“Our nation cannot change your stories, but collectively, we can change the stories of those who follow in your footsteps,” Moody wrote. “After violence, hope is all that remains.”
The mural will be officially launched on Sunday, ahead of this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) the following Tuesday, and will be attended by families of the women and children who have been effected by domestic violence. It will be painted by Melbourne artist and activist Dans Bain, who is behind ‘The Lost Petition’, a Go Fund Me campaign in the form of an ongoing, 30 metre-long canvas artwork that lists the names of women and children who lost their lives to male violence since 2008.
The list in The Lost Petition commences in the year 2008, the same year that the ‘Great Petition’, a sculpture that celebrates the 100th year anniversary of women’s right to vote in Victoria, was created by Susan Hewitt and Penelope Lee.
Bains’ artwork currently lists the names of more than 900 women and children who have lost their lives to male violence from 2008 and the list continues to grow.
“The Lost Petition also recognises women and children lost to violence by an unknown perpetrator,” Bains wrote on Facebook.
“These women and children can no longer vote, they have unjustly lost their right for representation and to have their voices heard by our Government. Their right to suffrage, that was fought for and won by brave women, did not protect them from male violence.”
Dans Bains’ “The Lost Petition”
Bain plans to take ‘The Lost Petition’ to Parliament House on Budget Day in late March, a year after exhibiting it at the Women’s March Rally in March 2021.
“There is a gaping hole in the funding for women and a lack of systematic change by this Government,” Bains said. “We need a budget that actively addresses the question- “how will this affect women?”
Earlier this month, Bain, whose practice uses various forms of research and process including observation, participation, sensory response, made a callout on Instagram, asking for the public to participate in her creation.
“For the fifth year running I am helping to facilitate a feminist art intervention in Hosier Lane,” Bain wrote.
“Last year a crew of people, kids, family members, partners and others gathered to install a range of feminist artworks in Hosier Lane on IWD. A true display of teamwork, support and solidarity. The breadth of artwork installed was so inspiring and thought provoking.”
“This action is for all cis and trans women, as well as non-binary people who are comfortable participating in an event (IWD) that focuses on the experiences of women. The aim of this event is to create a safe space for everyone to express themselves and exhibit their artwork.”
As well as featuring the names of hundreds of women and children killed, the mural will have space for the public to add their own messages about violence or to leave tributes to loved ones lost.