Ships in the Field – A Writer's & Illustrator's Journey
Ships in the Field is both personal and universal. Anna Pignataro and Susanne Gervay translated their families' personal experiences of migration into Ships in the Field translating it into the universal refugee immigrant experience of war, loss, migration, hope and home.
The story focus is on a second-generation girl who carries the inherited fragility of her parents' refugee and war trauma as she seeks to find a happy home life. There are wonderful moments of humour, love, courage and a positive sense of the future.
The little girl holds onto her 'Brownie' – a stuffed toy dog that represents her emotional alto-ego and companion. Her Brownie is a 'real friend' who shares her life as she becomes involved in the healing of her parents' and her own trauma as they create a new future.
When Brownie and the little girl find a homeless dog, the family's reaction symbolises rebirth and healing in a new land. Anna's parents left their dog behind. Susanne's parents found a homeless dog in Australia. Now there is another dog, a new life.
'Everyone has the right to a nationality'
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Jeder hat das Recht auf eine Staatsangehörigkeit. German
- Svako ima pravo na državljanstvo. Bosnian
- Minden személynek joga van valamely állampolgársághoz. Hungarian
- Setiap orang berhak atas sesuatu kewarga-negaraan. Indonesian
- Sing saha bae boga hak dina nangtukeun kawarga-nagaraanana. Sudanese
- Her ferdin bir uyrukluk hakkı vardır. Turkish
Excerpt from Ships in the Field
Papa drives into the forest because
He loves rivers and trees.
Papa grew up in a village in the old country,
before it was broken.
Ma grew up in a city in the old country,
before it was broken.
Anna's Pignataro's double page muted water colours containing these words reveal a journey through a landscape of inclusion with basilicas, medieval cities, wooden cottages, farm houses, disparate trees as they search for an unbroken future.
Author Inspiration
Ships in the Field is deeply embedded in the struggles of Susanne's family's wartime, human rights violations and the refugee experience. Her parents carrying their little son, left all they knew to escape across 'no-man's land' minefields in the dead of night for freedom. Her mother's Hungarian world was no longer the same with its operas, balls, visiting the health spa on Lake Balaton; her father's world at the university as a Professor of Engineering; her mother's world of running a household with servants and afternoon teas on Margarita Island on the Danube had ended. Her father's world was taken too. His land stolen. His white horse disappeared. His way of life gone.
The Austrian refugee camp was crowded, difficult, but it was from here that Australia selected them to go to Australia as bonded migrants on a battered WW11 warship. Her parents didn't know what Australia was, but they knew they could rebuild their lives offering their children a future. Like other refugees they worked long hours – her father in the Holden car factory; her mother in the clothing factory. Life in Sydney began in one room with the family sleeping on mattresses on the floor. But there was a belief in their new country and the future.
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Ships in the Field contains Susanne's family's stories. Her father made hats from the serviettes at dinnertime for the family's amusement. Her mother cooked chicken soup every night. Her father worked in a factory and mother sewed dresses both in a factory and at home. Their trips into the country were happy family time and a celebration of being safe and here. Her father did see the 'ships in the field.'
Susanne was deeply moved for herself and her parents and all those who make the journey to find home, when Governor Marie Bashir awarded her an Order of Australia in 2011. She is always moved giving an Australia Day address in her role as an Australia Day Ambassador.
Susanne's conversation with ABC radio Richard Fidler is a small part of the journey.
Illustrator Inspiration
Anna Pignataro was waiting for a story that touched her. When she read Ships in the Field she responded immediately. 'It's my story' she said. Her parents were Italian migrants who had to leave their beloved dog in Italy as they found home in Australia. Her water colour washes with the soft lines and palette capture the character, love, family as they struggle with the past to seek a future. Her daughter became the natural model for the girl in Ships in the Field.
Anna put aside all other projects to dedicate the next 6 months working long hours to create Ships in the Field – which was a deeply personal and important journey for Anna.