KIRLI SAUNDERS
DAVID BERRY MEMORIAL PARK
Kirli Saunders (OAM) is a proud Gunai Woman and award-winning multidisciplinary artist and consultant. An experienced speaker and facilitator advocating for the environment and equality, Kirli was the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year (2020). In 2022, she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her contribution to the arts, particularly literature.
For OpenField, Kirli’s sculptural poem ‘We Don’t Cry. We Don’t Miss.’ will be installed in Berry Memorial Park creating a haunting thematic link to the memorial to children of the Stolen Generations across the road at Berry Railway Station. This work features a found and repurposed rusted mattress frame incorporating shiny silver metal lettering which reads "We don’t cry. We don’t miss”, a phrase told to Kirli’s Mum by ‘carers’ in the children’s homes after she was taken away.
It’s a work which aims to confront audiences with our shared history, and create a space where we can collectively acknowledge the eco-grief we feel, and rally to support the self determined actions of First Nations communities, so our kids can learn from Elders and communities can care for Country as they always have.
More about Kirli: https://kirlisaunders.com/