ABSTRACT
The colony of Australia often developed its laws, rules, and regulations by mirroring those of Britain. However, as Krista Maglen’s (2005) research has highlighted, the nation-state’s approach to the control of human disease spread diverged from Britain beginning in the early 1800s. Australia’s remoteness saw a rhetoric of ‘purity and vulnerability’ evolve and the development of strict quarantine processes, border controls and restrictions to movement. This experimental chapter sits within the current global pandemic context and specifically focuses on the Australian state of Victoria. Victoria’s capital city Melbourne spent over 260 days in lockdown during the first two years of the pandemic, making it one of the most locked down cities in the world at the end of 2022. Moreover, Australia’s international borders were closed for almost two years. In a country where 30% of residents are born overseas, this border closure, along with the many border closures between Australian states, profoundly impacted people’s transnational and local, social and cultural networks and mobility (Australian Bureau of Statistics).
By bringing photography and creative writing into conversation with mobilities and feminist and performance theory, this chapter analyses how the artistic practices of Pia Johnson and Clare McCracken responded to the pandemic landscape – a time marked by liminality. A particular emphasis shows how the extended lockdowns both renewed and altered their artistic methodologies to explore notions of locality, identity and place. The state’s response to the pandemic generated a new focus on connection to local places and shifting perceptions of identity, race, culture, belonging and otherness. The emphasis on borders has been particularly challenging for those who identify as transnational citizens or those who live and work across metropolitan/regional borders. Written from a female and motherhood perspective, this chapter argues that understanding how extended lockdowns shaped the micro-mobilities of everyday life is important, as one of the impacts of climate change is that it renders significant sections of the population immobile. Far from ‘returning to normal,’ forms of being locked-down in one’s home will be a part of everyday life in the era of climate change.
