“Are we still in normal life or is this emergency life?” asks Tom, one of the protagonists. A flood separates a life in two – one before and one after. In this work we encounter people affected by the 2022 floods in eastern Australia, as they recall the moments in which everything changed. Described through miniature rooms, the piece recreates lost objects and spaces, rooms formed of memories. Beautifully and consciously crafted, the piece invokes a creative approach that radiates care, for participating collaborators, for audiences, and in the making process.

The project, centered on a virtual reality experience and including augmented reality components as well as workshops, was created in collaboration with people affected by the flooding. As the project continues to grow, it becomes a living archive of restoration, reviving lost objects. Like ducklings reappearing after a flood, life – albeit changed – does go on.

Dana Melaver