In an interview on ABC Classic FM radio, composer Deborah Cheetham describes the main theme of her opera “Pecan Summer” as ‘belonging’. She says that this is a key element in all her work which focuses on Indigenous people and their struggles for recognition. WfaAR comments: Everyone wants to belong to something bigger than themselves. This is also a key theme among groups of contemporary Australians who feel lost but still search for a national identity while wondering if they recognise the society that they now find themselves in. Becoming a Republic is an important step is providing a sense of unity among people of many different backgrounds who have come to our country since 1788 joining with our First Peoples: their heritage going back 60,000 years is also our heritage.
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
