Man Man: Making meaning on Manus

This is a photographic story book written in partnership between Man Man a detainee on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea (an Australian offshore detention centre which contravenes the Article 31 of the 1951 Untied Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugee) and Jill Parris an Australian advocate.

Man Man says

“I'm from Manus Island refugee transit centre. Aunty Jill Parris and I are friends and we trust each other as well. She is writing about my crafts and photography. I’m so happy to share my life and our situations."

As a mother and grandmother who lives in Australia I became concerned about the ill treatment of asylum seekers and refugees in Australia after the Tampa Incident in 2001 and have been deeply concerned by their inhuman treatment ever since. Because of this interest I joined Facebook to advocate for change.

Through Facebook I began to learn about asylum seekers on Manus Island and, made contact with and developed a close friendship with a man who had been incarcerated on the island, where he has now been held for over four and a half years. Online I met the person not the prisoner.

He is an artist, a philosopher and a man with an enviable ability to look at the positives. He has taught me many things. This book examines our friendship and the joy and pain it has brought me.