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Behind the Lines

Untitled

A smiling, bruised woman and her children take smashed bottles and affix them to the top of a wall.

Mary Leunig
1992

This is painfully brilliant, showing an injured woman and her children — note her black eye and bruises and their band-aids — using the absent husband’s booze supply to create a defensive barrier. Note the looks of pleasure on their faces as the boy smashes the bottles, his sister mixes the cement and their triumphant mother plants yet another repelling spike into a wall that he will never be able to breach.

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The Museum of Australian Democracy acknowledges Australia's First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We respectfully acknowledge the role that First Nations people continue to play in shaping Australia's democracy. We also acknowledge the Ngunnawal, Ngunawal and Ngambri peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the region in which MoAD is located.

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