For some people who've survived a traumatic event, processing memories through art can be one way to heal some of the pain. A small group of current and former Darwin residents who survived Cyclone Tracy have put this into practice, creating artworks for an exhibition honouring those who died, 50 years after the storm.
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00:00A chance to heal through art, this painting lovingly created by Stephanie Brown, who lost
00:09her eight-year-old sister Geraldine during Cyclone Tracey.
00:13Everything got wet and they were crushed.
00:15My brother and my dad were trying to hold the walls up and our sister knew she was dying
00:23and she said I'm going now and she told everybody that she loved them.
00:26It's dedicated to all the souls lost to the ferocious storm 50 years ago and is part of
00:33an exhibition of works in Darwin, created by survivors from across the country, keen
00:38to process their trauma from the night.
00:40It's what it must have been like for the parents having to protect their children and our father
00:45never got over it.
00:46He never got over losing Geraldine.
00:47He always felt it was his fault, it was his responsibility to look after her.
00:53Memories of sheltering from the horrendous wind, rain and flying debris, hiding places
00:59and memories of a Christmas that would never be forgotten, captured in ceramics, sculpture
01:05and mosaics of shattered glass and treasured items.
01:09It's very heartfelt, very special exhibition and people, the artists have actually poured
01:17their heart and soul into their work.
01:20I think it's great for survivors because we get to feel a bit of healing.
01:25I really think that, for us anyway, isn't it?
01:28And my art is about healing.
01:30Another work, a weather map of the storm, slow stitched using recycled fabrics.
01:36After Cyclone Tracy, so many of us recycled things, repurposed things, took what we could
01:44from the debris and then created homes, temporary homes, temporary shelters.
01:51So people have come from all over, not necessarily living in Darwin, but coming from interstate
01:58and we've come back together again, to be together again.
02:01We all survived that horrific event 50 years ago.
02:05The hearts and souls of those who survived on display in loving memory of those who died.