Before Pulau Bidong

I have been detached from my ancestors since birth. Separated by the space and time created by war, I did not know my grandparents, uncles and aunts growing up. Despite this I was relayed stories of their lives that allowed me to form a distorted view of who these people are and what my relationship to them was.

This work is an attempt to reclaim, retell and redefine these stories. It is a work about one family in a certain place and time, dealing with war and conflict. In recontextualising the emotional and photographic reminates it aims to reconcile the present with the past and in doing so reframe my existence as an Australian born Vietnamese.