Home Sweet Home: A Memorial. Stories of Trauma and Healing

By: Eileen Chen

Photo credits of: Anna Taylor, Noriko Nasu-Tidball

I met multidisciplinary Melbournian artist, Anna Taylor, at the opening of VACS’s Weaving Our Way (WOW) exhibit at the Richmond Art Gallery this September. After most attendees have left, I found Anna still lingering before the vibrant pieces of woven artwork, musing at each intricate detail and snapping photos. Even after exiting the exhibit, Anna marvelled aloud at a public monument, a street piano, and some wall art, quickly capturing each image on her phone while apologizing for delaying me. I, on the other hand, was marvelling at Anna: without a doubt, she has the curious eyes of a true artist.

Anna came to Vancouver to showcase her recent project, Home Sweet Home: a Memorial for women and children affected by the legacy of war. The memorial is a series of hand-bound books telling the stories of families impacted by war, through a combination of text and texture. Since 2012, she has collected numerous personal stories that arise from conflicts around the world, including WWI and II, the Vietnam War, the Australian Frontier Wars, the Irish Troubles, and several more. According to Anna, even a conflict that is not deemed a “war” by history has the power to devastate (such as the Irish Troubles), and even those who do not fight in a battlefield can be wounded by it. “War is universal,” Anna stated.

Anna would listen to the stories of each individual or family and produce a hand-bound book to document their experiences, keeping the voice as authentic and unaltered as possible. Aside from silhouette-like images and photographs, fabric is incorporated into the books’ pages, on which the text is stitched in some books. This is done to evoke the image of domesticity by reminding readers of aprons or tea towels, in honour of the many women whom wars have impacted vicariously. At each city she visits, Anna would lay out her books before her in an open, public space and invite interested passersby to interact with her art, as she believes that public outreach works better than the confines of a gallery.

According to Anna, the project has three goals: 1) To raise awareness of the vicarious trauma experienced by the families of veterans of war; 2) To foster understanding and compassion for what has happened amongst family members; 3) To allow families to heal through this sense of understanding. Several of Anna’s interviewees are children of war veterans, as well as the veterans themselves. These interviews tend to have a cathartic effect, and end up leaving Anna deeply touched herself. One young man was able to reframe his experiences with his father who became an alcoholic after the Vietnam War. He was prompted to contact his father after prolonged estrangement after telling Anna his story.

Despite the overtly political nature of her art, Anna never attempts to vilify any side of a conflict, as she insists that war is not about the “goodies” and the “baddies.” “War is just a tragedy of our human condition. The legacy it lays…it devastates everybody,” she says. In her books, Anna tries to feature perspectives as diverse as possible. To highlight that kindness can exist on every side, she brought up the example of a German couple who fought for the truth to be revealed of the atrocious persecution of Jews during WWII, as well as the complicity of the government and the universities in which they study. This is one of several stories of the same war she collected. In addition, she met with Malaysians whose homeland was occupied by the Japanese during WWII, refugees who fled from Uganda to escape Idi Amin’s dictatorship, and Aboriginal Australians whose lives were torn apart by the Frontier Wars. “Racial diversity is important,” Anna said, echoing her philosophy of raising awareness and of incorporating as many perspectives as possible.

Anna was inspired to start this project by her own complex relationship with war and trauma, her father having been a war veteran and herself having experienced PTSD after a series of car accidents. Thanks to Melbourne Legacy – an organization dedicated to supporting families of deceased veterans, which had helped Anna’s mother after the death of her father – Anna was able to get in touch with wives of veterans, who each had a story to tell. The idea for creating this memorial dates back as early as 1997.

Although like most, there have been some struggles in her life, Anna’s passion for painting, sculpting, and various other forms of art persists. Overcoming the financial stress of being a single parent and illness, Anna has held several solo exhibitions between 1997 and today, the latest in February this year. In addition, she has taught various art classes for adults and children under the title “Find Your Artist Within.” Anna’s investment in reconciliation through art can be seen in how she sees her classes as well. She said, “Sometimes people really want to do things, and they don’t let themselves. They can experience depression and discontentedness with life when they’re not being true to themselves.” Through these classes, she developed enduring bonds with many students, and is grateful for their mutual support.

Social support through crowd funding made Anna’s tour around the world possible. “It blew me away that others really believed in my project,” Anna said. Visiting Hiroshima, Nagasaki, London, Oxford, Paris, Berlin and finally Vancouver, Anna was inspired by the various people she interacted with as well as cultural histories previously unknown to her. She said that a large part of her tour is about “bearing witness,” especially in cities such as Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Berlin – sites that have borne the weight of profound war-inflicted trauma. Even with the amount of war stories she had heard and all the research she had done for her project, Anna came across new information her during her tour. The memorial for 27 million dead Soviet soldiers and civilians during WWII that she came across in London gave her one such lasting experience, as a tragedy many are unaware of. Overall, Anna was very grateful for the kindness and hospitality she has received.

When I asked what plans Anna has in store after returning to Melbourne, she optimistically admitted that she didn’t really know. Although she puts the idea of working with Peace in some way into consideration, Anna decides that she will let everything “sit for some time.” She is a firm believer in the saying “more will be revealed,” and thinks the wisest course of action is often to wait and go along with the flow. Wherever the flow takes her next, I am sure something beautifully inspiring lies at the end of it.

Postscript from Anna

Today in Australia it is November 11, 2018, the one-hundredth anniversary of the ending of World War 1.

I was fortunate to spend this afternoon at the event A World at Peace with Itself.

I have been to the Invictus Games to do art activities with veterans, their families and volunteers. I met the most amazing, resilient men and women. And families and children of those affected.

It only made me want Peace more!

Later I found out the sponsors of the games were the arms companies. The companies responsible, with others, for inflicting the devastating injuries that the veterans endured and that I witnessed. It seems obscene.

There is a conference here in Melbourne next April; Earth and Peace. It is discussing “A just and ecologically sustainable peace”.

Feel free to visit!

Home Sweet Home is being donated to the National Veterans Arts Museum at the end of this year. http://anvam.org.au/

Home Sweet Home on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homesweethomeamemorial

 

For more details on Anna and her work, visit Anna’s website: http://www.annataylorart.com/