Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner uses political and creative platforms to highlight the effects of global issues on the people and knowledge systems of her homeland, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). Her recent work has focused on ideas of ritual to process grief.

Eorak for Section 177 2021 invites visitors into a space of remembrance. Eorak refers to the last stage of Marshallese funeral rites, in which family members scatter sun-bleached coral over a grave to cleanse the site. Comprising four mounds of eorak (white coral) and handwoven coconut-leaf baskets, Jetñil-Kijiner’s work presents this ritual in the context of the foreign military occupation of Marshallese lands following World War Two. Between 1946 and 1958, the Marshall Islands were subjected to numerous devastating nuclear tests conducted by the United States (US).

It was not until the 1980s, when both the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia became independent nations, that the US formally addressed this damaging history in the first Compact of Free Association, specifically Section 177, which offered ‘just and adequate settlement’. Although the US promised millions of dollars in compensation, claims quickly eclipsed the promised payout, and a vast majority of cases remain unresolved.

Jetñil-Kijiner’s Eorak for Section 177 uses delicate imagery and thought-provoking poetry to create a sanctuary for remembering, understanding and grieving the far-reaching implications of the unfulfilled promise of Section 177.