Come Sit with Me (2022) &
You See Yourself, You See Yourself (2022)

Installation images from Barreeng Yirramboi, MADA Gallery, Monash University 2022 (photos: Andrew Curtis)

"You see yourself, you see yourself" is a quote from Jamaica Kincaid's book *A Small Place*: a sardonic and evocative essay on the impact of colonisation and tourism on her home, Antigua in the British West Indies. This work highlights the sights hidden from the tourist gaze—the reality of life for those whose land and waters are curated and commercialised for visitors' pleasure. The beach towel displays a repeat pattern from the first housing commission built in the Maldives. It was constructed on land reclaimed from a lagoon near the capital city as part of a population consolidation program. While tourists dream of lying on white sandy beaches during their luxury resort holidays, Maldivians living on small islands aspire to move to the city to access better healthcare and education. Resort spaces are exclusively for paying guests, and every effort is made to ensure they only see what aligns with the fantasy of a tropical island holiday. The sunglasses hanging in front of the towel symbolise self-reflection as much as the tourists’ obscured point of view. The desire for locals to access the destination created for tourists, and the tourists’ inability to see beyond the constructed ideal of someone’s place.