Tuesday 14 July 2015

Yininmadyemi - The Indigenous Fallen (2)


This is no shrinking violet, this memorial. It was erected earlier this year.

It consists of bullet cartridges, generic, I presume. Four are standing, three have fallen. I am not sure what "Yininmadyemi" represents, but the exhortation is "Thou didst let fall". Perhaps a spirit god.

It is a confronting memorial, focussing as it does on the death, rather than the sacrifice. However, upon reflection, it is a more honest memorial than the one 100 metres away that glosses over the blood and guts, and converts death by savagery into a glorious sacrifice for the common good.

3 comments:

William Kendall said...

Very evocative.

Jim said...

I'm not sure about this one. I can see it every day from the front of my work building. There's divided opinion about whether it's an appropriate war memorial.

Joe said...

It definitely has impact Julie. It is indeed a very confronting piece.