Desert Pearls
The achievements of sombre men find their way into public spaces, honoured in monuments, statues, and plaques, whilst individual women usually go unrecognised for their contributions to socio-political progress.
Desert Pearls engages with a history of defiant women. During 2020, artist Cynthia Schwertsik worked with Susan Thomas and the Broken Hill Art Exchange, and teachers and students from Willyama High School to unearth and revive stories of women who have been active figures in the history of Broken Hill. This project engaged women of different ages and backgrounds in the research, interpretation and performance of stories sourced from the Broken Hill Family History Group and beyond. The result is a series of video and photographic works that elevate women’s voices and give them a place to be recognised and celebrated in public space.
Desert Pearls is a documented public intervention, performed and produced in the early evening of November 14th, 2020. The video is the culmination of discussions between women of multiple generations, conversations of frustration and hope. The video chronicles colourful female characters – drawn from those that inspired the project –engaging playfully with the unmoving bronze busts of the Syndicate of Seven, the original members of the Broken Hill Mining Company formed in 1883. The camera follows a series of accumulative and intuitive interventions on the site outside the Broken Hill City Council building.