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key indigenous australian issues
| home | news lAborigines to show London that the proof is in the painting6 August 1998 - ENIAR Media Release - When Aboriginal peoples from a remote area of Western Australia were told to prove that they owned their traditional lands, they set about producing a very large piece of evidence: a 750 square foot painting of their country. Now some of them have come to London to talk about their art and the ongoing struggle for their land.
Eight Aboriginal artists, from the Walmajarri, Wangkajungka and Jawaliny language groups, will be speaking at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London at 7:00 pm on Friday, 7th August, 1998. They will also present a short film called Jila (waterhole) which tells the story of the giant painting. One of the artists, Walmajarri elder Ngarralja Tommy May, explained that the canvas was produced partly to educate non-Aboriginal people. “When you go to that High Court and tell your story,” says Ngarralja Tommy May, “they might say, ‘We don’t believe, might be you’re lying’. That’s why we made this painting for proof; to let people understand so that they can know.” The European Network for Indigenous Australian Rights (ENIAR) which has co-organised the event, believes that the artists should never have had to paint the picture in the first place. “It’s a deeply unjust situation,” says ENIAR spokesperson Richard Wakelam. “These people have to climb legal mountains just to walk on their own country.” The event has been co-organised by the Rebecca Hossack Gallery and the European Network for Indigenous Australian Rights (ENIAR), a non-government organisation which campaigns against violations of Aboriginal rights.
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its one year on from the Australian Governments controversial intervention into NT Indigenous communities
action Roll back, listen to Indigenous community voices speaking about the intervention |
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