The Materialisation of Testament by Kerry Martin

Overview

The Materialisation of Testament is the culmination of four years of research, and the artistic component of Kerry Martin’s creative practice PhD undertaken at the University of Canberra between 2020 and 2024. Based primarily on the reports of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2012-2017), it seeks to provide another platform to continue the discussion around, and examination of the Catholic Church’s disturbing history of child sexual abuse in this country.

Working with a reparative aesthetic, an approach to making beautiful art about brutal topics, it asks the viewer to consider what it might look like if the Church wore the shame of its offences… shame that has so often been unfairly borne by its survivors and victims.

Although the Royal Commission ended in 2017, the impact of child sexual abuse by the Catholic Church continues to be felt, and the need for survivors and their advocates to continue to be heard has not diminished. This exhibition is a small, but sincere attempt to keep the conversation alive.