SARAYE Fumiko
Born: Around 1940 – Died: 2 August 1943
Particulars:
Fumiko / Nora was born in Tonga, the youngest child of Kuniye and Isao. She had a sister a year older, who was also born in Tonga. Her father Isao worked as a warehouseman for Kuniye’s brothers’ business Banno Bros, in Nuku’alofa. When Fumiko was one year old, the Pacific War broke out, and her father and his work colleagues were arrested as ‘enemy aliens’ and sent to Aotearoa / New Zealand. They were interned on Matiu / Somes Island in Wellington Harbour. Some of the men’s wives and children were also taken to New Zealand, but were not interned, and lived under police supervision on the mainland. When Fumiko was 3 years old, the family was reunited with their father and put on a plane to travel to Australia. Fumiko did not survive when the plane crashed shortly after take-off.
–Sophie Constable
More info:
Zorica Purlija
Artist/s Statement:
From records and testimony of people living close to the site where Fumiko and her family’s plane crashed in Auckland among the mangroves, I understand that they were war prisoners. I wanted to honour their memory with a spiritual artwork. Fumiko’s family were from Wakayama Prefecture, known as the spiritual heartland of Japan, with many shrines and pilgrimage sites, and a magnificent waterfall. I delved into photos from my travels to find a mangrove tree and a waterfall. After the war, the Japanese families were released from the internment camps and sent on a ship to Japan. From the real live footage, I took a screenshot of an image of a young Japanese girl with an older girl standing behind her. I wanted to use that abstract pixelated image as a starting point. Fumiko is guarded by her older sister, Misao. Then I overlaid my mangrove photo to represent her body’s intended destination. I also overlaid waterfalls and clouds to evoke Fumiko’s spirit re-joining her family, who boarded the Koei Maru for home in 1946.
Artist Bio:
Zorica Purlija migrated from Montenegro to Australia when she was 8 years old, and is currently based in Sydney. Graduating with Distinction, Zorica has an Associate Diploma in graphic design and photography from Western Sydney University and has completed a Master of Arts in photo media at the UNSW School of Art and Design. She continues to exhibit widely and her public profile continues to build, including internationally, with exhibitions in Manhattan, Zurich, and Venice. She has been a finalist in the Head On Photo Awards, the Wyndham Art Prize, the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, and the Gosford Art Prize.