"Without a Face"

Here we are in the thrall of winter.  A good time for thinking, reading, reflection.
Which is my explanation of where my time has gone.  It is easy to feel days go by quickly when the light goes by 4:30 p.m.

Last year at this same time (Dark Mofo Festival) my GF and I saw posters up of a campaign we had both pledged to via Australia's version of Kickstarter, 'Pozible'.

A young artist named Peter Drew (he is interesting, you should go read about him here: Peter Drew)

They were street posters that stated "Real Australians Say Welcome".
Because Australia has a low population, our nation wide coverage is more like coverage of one large state- or at it's largest the entire east coast of the U.S.
Also the continent is an island so people trying to seek asylum come by sea, this complicates the issue quite a bit.  

I think about immigration for many reasons, I am an immigrate who came from immigrates (although further back on my fathers side than I realised until recently) and I married a man whose whole family immigrated.  We, both, are advantageous in the fact that we are allowed to live in two countries.

We are very, very advantageous because we had a choice.

But many do not.

Peter Drews' latest series of posters is about creating folk heroes that are less recognised in Australia. He has been putting poster around Tasmania, and tomorrow with the start (of my) Dark Mofo events, I hope to find more of them up.  Including my favourite Dorothy Choon.

He has set me back to a place of gratitude and back onto a path to explore more Australian history.

Also this thinking about immigration is compounded by the fact that I am reading 'The Gene' An Intimage History by Siddhartha Mukherjee.  I had just heard him interviewed on The New Yorker Radio Hour when I came across his book. I think the book is an essential read.