Tetanus

In 2009 eX de Medici was sent to interpret Australian involvement in peacekeeping operations in the Solomon Islands. Central to the body of work de Medici produced was the theme of colonisation. She saw several distinct layers of intervention; from the era when the Solomon Islands was a British protectorate to when invading forces arrived during the Second World War, and from foreign investment in the islands’ natural resources to the arrival of RAMSI (Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands).

'Tetanus' is a composite work drawn from over twenty-five photographs. It reveals the destruction and mess caused by continuous colonisation and exploitation of land that continues to this day. Barefoot children play among unexploded ordnance and clamber over rusting American aircraft and amtraks left behind after war. Through the scene wanders an Australian patrol, while in the background the dense rainforest has been clear-felled, the timber now stacked in massive piles.