The book “Parragirls - Reimagining Parramatta Girls Home through art and memory” shares the experiences, memories and hopes for the future of the former Parragirls (many of whom are Indigenous).
Parragirls is arguably the first book to use art to reveal the difficult spaces of an Australian former child welfare institution, Parramatta Girls Home.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse lay bare the significant sexual abuse that took place in this institution for decades right until its closure in 1974.
Parragirls reveals how art can change places and perceptions. “The artistic practice was, in a way, therapeutic. It was also a way to regain a certain identity,” Dr Hibberd said in our conversation.
The vividly illustrated book was edited by Dr. Lily Hibberd with Bonney Djuric OAM, who co-founded the Parragirls Memory Project in 2012. More than 200 women would have engaged with this project.
“This was an amazing collaboration at the call of former residents of Parramatta Girls Home, who call themselves Parragirls, many of whom are extremely creative.”
