Each of these artworks provides commentary on how we experience the world. I am interested in the personal and political dimensions of our experiences of displacement, grief and trauma.

Girl Under Lemon Tree is inspired by an old photo of my Mum before she migrated to Australia from Lebanon. I have always been struck by her stance in that photo and how strong she appears within the safety of her parents’ garden. A Year in Recovery, is a self-portrait reflecting on how I began to re-engage with the world after the trauma of losing my mum to domestic violence in 2015.

Side by side, these pieces tell one continuous story. The artworks in this installation represent more than just the evolution of my creative practice, but my desire to understand and testify to the ways in which the women in my family have been affected by both state sanctioned violence and interpersonal abuse.

Amani Haydar is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, former Archibald Prize finalist and author based on Dharug Land. Amani’s work explores the personal and political dimensions of her experiences as a Muslim and Lebanese woman and builds on her work as a prominent advocate for women’s health and safety. She uses visual art and storytelling to explore the ways women creatively reimagine themselves and the world after surviving displacement, grief and trauma. Her feminist memoir, The Mother Wound (Pan Macmillan, 2021), is a literary response to these themes and provides additional insight into the power of visual art as a tool for activism, healing and the transmission of intergenerational resilience.