Two homes, another world

In Two homes, another world (2016) Kate Daw and Stewart Russell explore the intersection of sport and Indigenous Australia through the stories of two individuals: the AFL player Liam Jarrah and Yorta Yorta soprano Deborah Cheetham AO. During a residency at Melbourne's National Sports Museum in 2008 the artists developed a strong relationship with Jarrah, his family and their community in the Northern Territory, which evolved into a work about the footballer's concept of home across two distant places, Yuendumu and Melbourne. The artists have built upon this project in a new work that combines screenprinted panels with a recorded vocal composition by Deborah Cheetham. In 2015 Cheetham was invited to sing the national anthem at the AFL Grand Final, but declined because she was not permitted to replace the lyrics 'for we are young and free' with 'in peace and harmony'. In Two homes, another world, Cheetham has restructured the lyrics of Advance Australia Fair to run upside down and back-to-front. The operatic strains of this reconfigured anthem play across the gallery space, at times familiar but ultimately incomprehensible. The multiple narratives of Two homes, another world reflect Daw and Russell's belief in the possibilities of collaboration and an expanded idea of language to make connections across geographic, cultural and linguistic divides, and ultimately to contribute to a more inclusive national identity. Kate Daw and Stewart Russell acknowledge the support of the Yuendumu and MCG communities and Deborah Cheetham.