Roses from the Heart
Roses from the Heart is a unique memorial to the 25,566 convict women transported to Australia from Britain and Ireland from 1788 to 1853. The concept of Dr Christina Henri, an artist who completed her PhD in Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Tasmania involves the making of a bonnet, akin to those worn at the time, to commemorate the life and contribution each of the transported women made towards the founding of a new nation.
Dr Henri conceived the idea of using a colonial bonnet as a textile symbol and metaphor for women convicts, the same bonnet worn by convict women. Her rational is to use this symbol to lift the vail of amnesia shrouding the existence of those transported women. Each bonnet contains the person’s name, year and the ship on which they were transported.
‘Roses from the Heart’ Bonnet Exhibition
A selection of Bonnets which have been created as part of ‘Roses from the Heart’ Waterford project to commemorate and remember the lives of more than 350 Waterford convict women who were transported to Tasmania and New South Wales in Australia between 1788-1853 will be on public display for Heritage Week at Reginald’s Tower Waterford from the 17th to 25th August.
The Roses from the Heart digital collection https://doi.org/10.7486/DRI.tq582j90q is now available on the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI), the national repository for preserving social and cultural heritage. The ‘Roses from the Heart’ Waterford Group have collaborated with SETU library and INSYTE Research Group to digitally archive and curate the bonnets which have been created for the Waterford women. The DRI will host a permanent exhibition of the bonnets which have been created as part of the project while giving recognition to and provide a platform for the community organisations including the Waterford Women’s Centre who have been instrumental in facilitating programmes for creating bonnets to remember the history of the women.
A libguide for further information is here
For further information about Roses from the Heart and Dr Christina Henri, please see https://rosesfromtheheart.tumblr.com.