Of the 31,000 listed entries in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, only 31 biographies are of Pacific people, 2 of these are of Pacific women. My research and highlighting of the incredible 45 F.M.I. Sisters was noted by the workshop organisers as "the perfect blend of creative, public facing and historically informed scholarship that pushes the boundaries of biography as a discipline."
The Return of the Tabu Na Warakukul
Sister Angelica F.M.I. was born in 1930 her village is Nanga Nanga in East new Britain. She joined the F.M.I Congregation in 1952. Father Damian showed her a picture of an African woman Sister Kosila, which became an inspiration and her calling to God.
Like Minded Women
It was 2:36am. I was having trouble sleeping. I did that thing of unconsciously reaching for my smartphone beside my bed and began to read through emails. There was an invitation from a curator called Christine Eyene requesting to view my video work Afrophobia created in 2007 for an exhibition she was curating in Brussels. I was wide awake now. After sending Christine the 7 min video work via dropbox she was happy to include it in the upcoming show titled Where We're At! Other voices on gender to be shown at BOZAR Bruxelle Palais Des Beaux-Arts (Centre for Fine Arts). A support letter from BOZAR and a successful travel grant application to the Australia Council for the Arts got me on a plane. I was on my way to Belgium!
Lisa Hilli 