Restored 'Unfolding Lives' memorial takes pride of place
Western Australia’s first memorial to honour children harmed in institutional care has been restored and returned to a place of prominence at the Perth Cultural Centre.
Care leavers walked through an honour guard to unveil the 'Unfolding Lives' sculpture at a rededication ceremony yesterday outside the WA Museum Boola Bardip.
Commissioned after a Senate inquiry into the past treatment of these children, the memorial honouring the Forgotten Australians was first unveiled outside the museum in 2010.
The distinctive artwork by sculptor Judith Forrest resembles a child’s paper ‘chatterbox’, a fortune-telling game that reveals hidden messages.
Care leavers advocated passionately for the memorial to be reinstalled after it was removed and stored during the museum’s redevelopment.
The Department of Justice, in cooperation with the Department of Communities and Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC), and the City of Perth worked with the care leavers to relocate the sculpture.
The DLGSC contributed $140,000 towards restoring and repainting the surface of the memorial. Its new site in the Cultural Centre precinct is less than 50 metres from the original location.