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Jana Koelmel

Visual Artist | Filmmaker

Heimat (Work in Progress)
2021 - ongoing

In 2021, my first child was born. COVID restrictions were still in place, and my German family was unable to travel to Australia. I had moved to Brisbane only two years prior. A short 16 months after giving birth to my daughter, my second child was born. The first three years of parenting felt like a whirlwind. 

Life with two under two felt overwhelming and messy. It was a stark change to the life I had led before kids. My life revolved primarily around the family home. These images give an intimate and authentic insight into the chaos, mood swings and intense beauty of raising little children. 

The word Heimat, German for home, encapsulates a sense of belonging. It can refer to one's place of birth or the place where one feels at home. This series poses questions of what it means to feel at home. Whilst I was making a home for my children, in this unfamiliar place, I also felt an ever-present sense of longing for my home in Germany. 

Jana Koelmel acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land on which she works, lives and creates — the Turrbal and Yuggera peoples and pays her respects to Elders — past, present and emerging. She recognises and acknowledge them as the first storytellers and artists of this land.

Meanjin | Brisbane, Australia

© 2025 Jana Koelmel. All rights reserved.

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