Are We Settled Yet?

For teenage refugees, settling in a new country brings about a metamorphosis. You come with one culture, absorb another, and along the way you learn about other cultures in other lands. Constantly looking for differences and similarities, you mix and match. Are We Settled Yet? is a photographic portrait exhibition featuring young subjects from Africa and Asia dressed in costumes and adornments that represent their dearly treasured cultural heritages.

Akriti Rai arrived in Cairns as a refugee from Nepal in December 2022, attending Trinity Bay State High School as a year 11 student in 2023. There she befriended Sylvine Rahabu, a refugee herself from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Akriti’s portrait of Sylvine won her the Tanks Arts Centre Curators’ Award at the Energy exhibition 2024.