Let’s begin with a photograph from the Royal Melbourne Zoo archive. Entitled ‘A display showing an exact representation of an Aboriginal people’s encampment in the Bushland exhibit’ (1888; photographer unknown), it shows a family in a bark hut. A woman gathers her two children to her; one huddles behind, his (her?) cheek nestling into her curls, the other sits at her side. A man sits slightly apart, his blurred hands at work. Although it’s sunny, they’re all wrapped up in animal skins. On the far right of the picture a dog stands sentry, its tail and ears raised.

There are two more huts in the background, both inhabited by blurry figures. They all look this way, at us.