Livin' the Dream

An Aboriginal family is transplanted into a remote community.

They bring with them aspirational “white” accoutrements of cars, boats and luxurious items, yet their facial expressions betray bewilderment; their ability to identify themselves is threatened and distanced by their removal from the familiar. Material objects offer little comfort in the face of loss of community.

Michael Cook visualises the impact of dislocation and the inequality with which Australia continues to live. Dysfunction, personal and societal, is an almost inevitable result of displacement and loss of community. Located in remote Australia, the connection of identity to place that is evoked here is universal.