Mackay author Janet Ambrose releases Mangrove: Australian Family Stories

After six years and with over 100 interviews, Mackay artist Janet Ambrose hopes her newest book featuring local Australian South Sea Islanders can give space for truth-telling.

Janet Ambrose releasing her second book 'Mangroves: Australian Familie Stories' at Mackay Central State school in front of those who featured in the project.

It began with a portrait and a conversation, but it morphed into something much bigger than she ever imagined.

Now, after six years and with over 90 interviews, artist Janet Ambrose has turned an art project into a historical tale of Mackay’s Australian South Sea Islander heritage, revealing some of the city’s hidden tragedies and triumphs.

“I would just keep working away, visit people, I’d sit at their table and take the time and just get to know them,” she said.

“Then trust comes and they would tell me their story, so I thought, ‘I’ve got to capture this’.”

The Sarina based artist and author released her second book Mangroves: Australian Family Stories which will be hitting school bookshelves and libraries.

‘Mangroves: Australian Family Stories’ was Janet Ambrose’s second release as part of a six year long “mangroves” series.

“Along the way Mangrove evolved into something bigger than I had ever imagined,” she said.

Through truth-telling and sometimes “painful reflections”, the book comprises of 39 members of Mackay’s diverse community, breaking down family histories of how some arrived in the sugar city in large barges in the late 1800s and how some arrived in shackles to the Paxton’s warehouse to be sold as labourers.

“We don’t talk about their history so through these books maybe we will start talking about it,” she said.

Roxanne Togo, Christine Andrew and Anita Sunma featured in the series.

“Some of them are (confronting) especially the differences of how people grew up and the way that they lived.”

It follows her first published book Conversations with Australian South Sea Islanders; a Missing Chapter from Australian History featuring 52 members of Mackay’s Australian South Sea Islander community.

She said the project opened the door to a history “we don’t often talk about”.

“I would walk around and just go ‘oh this is a different community to what I’m used to’,” she said.

“I didn’t even know what blackbirding was.”

The room was filled with those who shared their stories as part of the ‘Mangrove’ series.

Her books will appear in the Mackay State High School library as part of their curriculum after being featured in a display at the Dudley Denny City Library celebrating 25 years of the state government’s recognition of Australian South Sea Islanders as a distinct cultural group.

But as around 100 participants piled in to view the release of Mangroves, Ms Ambrose said the book was more than an educational tool.

“It’s not just a history book, this is a book of how to treat each other,” she said.

“It was an experiment today to see who would come and see who was sitting with who and everyone sat together as an equal standing and that’s always been my aim.

“There’s a lot of differences in our community. We do carry a lot of white privilege that we don’t realise we do.”

Originally published as Mackay author Janet Ambrose releases Mangrove: Australian Family Stories