Colonization

The colonization exhibition explores the ongoing process of colonization in Australia which in many ways is stronger today than when the first fleet arrived.  I explores the brutality of the colonizers along side the suffering and resitance of First Nations people.   In particular I explore my own complicity in all of this.  My own current economic security is directly related to the historical theft of the land and as part of the wider Australian society I have to accept responsibilty for: the disadvantages faced by First Nations people today; for the policies of successive past governments which have tried to annialate, segregate and assimilate First Nations people; and for the terrible racism that still pervades in our society.  I wanted also to highlight what white society has missed out on by not paying attention to and learning from First Nations culture and knowledge, in particular in relation to caring for Country.

The painting below about the arrival of Captain Cook was part of "The Goat Stand" exhibition and it was this painting which was the stimulus for this exhibition.   It lead to coping and reformulating several famous Australian paintings to change their Narrative and recognize the place of First Nation people.   These paintings are the first ones shown in the gallery