1 arrange in or decorate with a swag or swags of fabric : swag the fabric gracefully over the curtain tie-backs | [as adj. ] ( swagged) the swagged contours of nomads' tents.
2 Austral./NZ travel with one's personal belongings in a bundle : swagging it in Queensland | swagging my way up to the Northern Territory.
So… these photos
Tonight Nate and I went to the Alice Springs night market. The art exhibit, Swags, was put on by the Aboriginal organization I used to work for. When people go camping here they often sleep in swags, not tents. A swag is a bedroll. The outer layer is made of thick canvas to protect a person from the elements.
Aboriginals refer to their stopping place as a camp. For example, Nate and I might say we are stopping at the nurse’s quarters. We currently live in the nurse’s quarters on the hospital grounds, but this dorm room is not our home.
If we were to visit Nate’s parents in Salt Lake we might say that we are stopping with the Maeser mob or at the Maeser camp. If Nate and I were Aboriginal there is a good chance everyone in Nate’s family would also be stopping at his parent’s house… indefinitely.
Since the house would already be filled wall to wall with people, we might camp in the backyard with our dog and swags. Nate and I might stop with the Maeser mob at their camp for months or even years. Even though having so many people at the Maeser camp would strain the sewage system and the overall maintance of the home, we would never be asked to move on. It is a family’s obligation to help each other out.
There is no ownership in Aboriginal culture. Everything is shared with family. The only way Grandma and Grandpa Maeser could gracefully get out of this Maeser mob mess would be if they abandoned their house and took a trip out bush or moved to another community and stopped at someone else’s camp indefinitely. Eventually their abandoned house would go back to territory housing and the rest of the Maeser mob would have to find somewhere else to camp.
So about this exhibit. There are many Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory who are technically homeless. The swags in the exhibit were painted by Aboriginal artist… who have more than likely been homeless or are currently homeless.
As observers we were invited to lie in the swag and hear the artist’s story. I think the idea is similar to walking in another person’s shoes to understand who they are and where they are coming from. Not only did we have the experience of resting in their swags and feeling the story, but also connected to the pillow was a recording of the artist’s voice telling their story.
It’s good to listen.
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