I acknowledge the homelands of all Aboriginal people and pay my respects to this beautiful Country. But today very specially, I stand on this ancestral land of the Koori and Kulin people of the Wurundjeri nation the true custodians of this land, and pay my respect to their elders past and present. I acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city of Melbourne.

Thank you Victorian Archives Gallery for selecting my work. I am honoured and humbled to the core. Thank you so much Kate and Andy for working together with me and finally meeting you both in person.

Thank you lovely friends that made my special day even more special by being there with me. To my friends Melissa, Warren, Anne & Rick that came down from Sydney. To friends from Melbourne: Rajesh, Jocelyn, Rohan, Tash, Ziyu, Maxwell, Wei. To everyone that couldn’t make it but was in spirit. For all your countless well wishes and thoughtfulness and generosity of your spirit. A very special mention for my dear friend Judy from whom I learned about PROV (Public Records Office Victoria) and another big thank you to Amal who was with me while I made this portrait of the dashing go-getter!

It is an honour to be a part of the Victorian archives very particularly cause Melbourne is one of my most loved cities in Australia! Possibly the world :)

The Exhibition is open now till March 2018 before the body of work is archived in the PROV Archive centre. I hope you get to see it in person.