MY FACE OUR PLACE

Derby, West Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia

In 2013 Breckon facilitated a large-scale photographic installation called My Face, Our Place as part of her role at Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre in Derby, Western Australia.

Derby is a remote town in the West Kimberley region where residents have been collectively traumatised by high rates of youth suicide. In response to this, Breckon and the team at Mowanjum Arts Centre wanted to create an inclusive public art exhibition that celebrated Derby’s people.

They took inspiration from the Inside Out Project, an inclusive global art platform that enables people to share their stories and transform their identities into public artworks.

To capture similar portraits for My Face, Our Place, Breckon taught basic photography skills to Mowanjum arts workers, Derby High school students and other community members. Together, they photographed more than 200 black and white portraits of residents from Aboriginal communities, schools, private homes, and businesses in and around Derby.

Sponsored by not-for-profit organisation DADAA and in collaboration with Derby’s Marsh Art Festival, these black and white photographic portraits were recorded, printed, and mounted onto a shipping container gallery in the vast and iconic Derby marsh, within walking distance from the Derby township.

My Face, Our Place now features on the Inside Out Project Website.