Seeking Humanity By Wendy Sharpe at Belconnen Arts Centre

By Benjamen Judd

This is your last chance to experience the deeply moving Seeking Humanity exhibition at the Belconnen Arts Centre by Archibald Prize winning artist, Wendy Sharpe before it wraps up on April 12.

Seeking Humanity is an exercise in compassion.

Presented by the Asylum Seekers Centre in Sydney Seeking Humanity portrays the stories of Australia’s asylum seekers and refugees through a series of personal and heart-wrenching portraits.

To create the collection of works artist, Wendy Sharpe sat with 39 refugees and asylum seekers to capture their likenesses and express their humanity as well as their personal stories in a bid to highlight our common connection and present the other side of the refugee narrative.

To say that Seeking Humanity will touch you is an understatement, because the works presented – and what they represent – go far beyond simple sympathy.

By painting the faces of those who have struggled to seek sanctuary and find new homes, Sharpe manages to paint a mirror that reflects our own willingness to allow the continued confinement of those who sought the most basic of human rights – safety.

Seeking Humanity by Wendy Sharpe is now showing in the Belconnen Arts Centre until April 12.