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We Were Just Little Boys

Head On Photo Festival 2024
Tace Stevens
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Tace Stevens
This event has concluded
Dates: -
Location: Paddington Reservoir Gardens, 251-255 Oxford st, Paddington
Hours:
Entry Fee: Free
Genres: Portrait

This series shares poignant stories and reflections from Survivors of the Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Training Home (KBH), a state-run institution that operated from 1924 to 1970, located 4.5 hours north of Sydney.

Hundreds of Indigenous boys who were forcibly removed from their families were sent to this facility. The purpose of this institution and others like it was to assimilate Indigenous children into white society. The policies that allowed this to happen created what we know today as the ‘Stolen Generations.’

When these boys entered Kinchela, their relationship and connection with their families, culture and identity were cut off, leaving a lifetime of trauma and pain. Psychological, physical and sexual abuse by the staff were common experiences.

After Kinchela closed in 1970, it was re-purposed as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre, operating between 1979 and 2017. The site has since been vacant, slowly eroding away.

The site is surrounded by a rich agricultural landscape and the beautiful Macleay River; it’s serene. It’s hard to imagine that this site is a cavity of trauma and pain. 2024 marks 100 years since the founding of the home. The Uncles didn’t have any autonomy, voice, or power when they were at Kinchela. This body of work is a reclamation of their journey.

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Tace Stevens

Tace Stevens is a Noongar and Spinifex visual storyteller from Western Australia. She uses photography and film to explore this world and better understand herself as an Aboriginal woman. Building strong relationships with those she photographs gives her work a sense of authenticity and truth.

This event has concluded
Dates: -
Location: Paddington Reservoir Gardens, 251-255 Oxford st, Paddington
Hours:
Entry Fee: Free
Genres: Portrait
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Max Mason-Hubers

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Image detail: Andrea Agostini