In Term 4, students can explore ideas about home and belonging from the perspectives of settlers and diaspora communities in Australia through two exhibitions at PICA.  

Migrants who fled Iran during the 1979 Revolution and their children growing up on Noongar land share narratives of displacement and reconnection. The Second Generation Collective, founded by video artist Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson and performing artist Asha Kiani, collaborate with the Iranian-Australian community to document and express their stories. Healing trauma and bridging generational gaps, they delve into cultural and religious identity. Highlighting the potential of art for psychological and spiritual expression, they use therapeutic creative practices to foster individual well-being and build community.  

Perspectives about the ‘Australian dream’ are challenged from the position of a non-indigenous artist grappling with what it means to be a settler on unceded Aboriginal lands. Alana Hunt uses research-based processes to revisit historical archives from the State Library of Western Australia in a video installation. Playing with language and text, the exhibition looks at the myths and realities embedded in official government documents. The sense of place in WA is considered within the broader context of colonisation.