The Unknown Widow

See The Unknown Widow at

ANVAM, 312 St Kilda Road, Southbank,

between 21 March - 24 April 2025

In the Great War of 1914-18, Australia lost more than 61,000 who died in Europe and the Middle-East. Following the war, families of those who had died were invited to write an epitaph to be included on the headstones of their loved ones.

The constraint on families was that the epitaph was to be no more than 66 characters, or less than half of a modern tweet.

The Unknown Widow is a commemorative project inspired when learning of this process, and reflecting on the challenge that families must have felt in writing a permanent memorial to the love, life and loss of their loved one, an Australian soldier of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).

Of those who died, some 18,000 have no known grave. For their families they did not have the opportunity to write an epitaph. This includes the family of The Unknown Soldier now buried in the Hall of Memory in the Australian War Memorial.

About Sacha. Sacha is the creator of The Unknown Widow. She is a Royal Australian Navy veteran, and Veteran Artist with her own creative small business, Draw Stitch Smile, based in Brisbane.

About Kirshy. Kirshy McAinch is a Royal Australian Navy veteran, and Veteran Artist, who collaborated with Sacha in the production of The Unknown Widow to provide the performative element of the work. During the performance, Kirshy is The Unknown Widow who sings a song from the wartime / post war period. Kirshy is also the principal of a special needs school in regional Victoria.

The Unknown Widow is an installation of 66 embroidered handkerchiefs, each with a unique original epitaph written by a family for their loved one.

The embroidery design on the handkerchiefs was inspired by the features on the WW1 Widows Badge including the scroll on the top bar and the star for each loved one lost during the war.

The Unknown Widow was launched during the 2025 Festival Of Veterans Arts (FOVA) in Melbourne and has been in the following exhibitions:

ANVAM’s 8th annual March to Art: Together exhibition (21 March - 24 April 2025)
Victorian Premier’s Anzac Day Commemorative Luncheon (10 April 2025)

The Unknown Widow received a Saluting Their Service grant contributing to the project.