Peace Park Mosaic, Noble Park

The Peace Park Mosaic began life in 1994 as Landcare Environmental Action Program (LEAP) community art project. Lead by Artist and museum curator Kitty Owens, then a recent university graduate, led an oral history project working with young refugees and migrants from the local area, Christine Mae Chua, DC June Isiderio, Carlo Rivas, Hawaa Fikak, Wajesta Ezadyar, Chan Chiem, Siemchou Vongsikeo, Liam Chi Dang.
The mosaic mural that grew from the project is a war memorial with a difference, expressing the experience of conflict from the perspective of civilians.
A printed tile plaque reads:

This mural is dedicated to the friends and relatives of this area who died in war and to those people we have been separated from in the process of migration.
It is also a celebration of peace.

So, although it is dedicated to people who died, it also acknowledges another form of loss, that caused by separation. Behind this story, is also the story of the traumatic experience of living through war.
Originally attached to the wall of the Noble Park RSL (Return Services League), the mural needed to be removed because of building renovations in 2003. Ann Clark and Libby McKinnon had also been involved as leaders in the original project, and Libby was engaged to undertake restoration work.
The memorial is now four separate panels, with parts of the original mosaic on each panel. Although it does not have the same sense of story-telling as the original artwork, it still manages to convey the sense of loss and the pain of separation caused by war.

On thing that is really nice about this memorial is that it is located within the same space as the local war memorial. In fact, it takes up the space between the traditional war memorial and the Noble Park RSL building. In this sense, it is an ongoing reminder that war has consequences for ordinary people, not only for soldiers. This seems like an important thing to emphasize in Australia. The 2003 restoration project was undertaken because the RSL recognised the significance of this memorial. 

The Enterprise Migrant Hostel in nearby Springvale had only closed a few years before this project began, connecting this project to a more recent memorial project, the Enterprise Tribute Garden. One of the aims of that memorial is to draw attention to the difference between the welcoming, supportive refugee policies of the 1970s and 80s and today's punitive offshore processing regime.