This is National Reconciliation Week in Australia which is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. Talks, conversations and artwork all aiming to show how this can be achieved against a backdrop of world affairs that leave most of us quivering with anxiety about the status of the world.

I walked through the park on my way home today and I found Gandhi ready to take off complete with backpack- maybe off to the country of his heritage to tell Narendra ( who incidentally placed him here in Roma St Parklands ) how some of his tactics for the upcoming elections in India fell foul. Or heading down south to the country of his early career where he honed his art as a barrister and was ready to take on the apartheid regime all those years ago, reminding South Africans not to forget the freedom and gift of democracy that Nelson M bestowed on them in the light of the imminent elections in their country.

Mothers and fathers post messages for peace and the sanctity of children and protecting their young lives. We swipe through and add our emojis of care and outrage knowing that while we know how very wrong things are we lack the ability to change their course. A feeling of intense powerlessness assuaged only by the beauty of what I walk through.