F.M.I. Sisters of Vunapope

Australian War Memorial Commission (2018-2020)

At the risk of their own lives, the F.M.I. Sisters dedicated themselves to providing locally grown produce to Australian, European and Unserdeutsch children who were held captive at Ramale prisoner of war camp for almost three years. As an Australian War Memorial commissioned artist, I chose to highlight war histories that relate to women, in particular Papua New Guinean women. Photographed inside the liberated camp in 1945, twelve F.M.I. Sisters are veiled and adorned with flowers that reference some of the seventeen nationalities among the 300 civilians whom they helped keep alive at Ramale during the Second World War. Forty-five black cinctures honour the efforts and make visible the names of the F.M.I. Sisters.