'My Country' showcases the works of Aboriginal and Torres Islander artists and the connections they have with their land. Highlighting issues and sparking debate to the politics of the country.
My Country challenges Australian history from the perspective of the artists on contemporary life. The Australian artists presents personal, ancestral and indigenous views on their past and present issues with Australia. The artists tells stories and the experiences of Black Australians through drawings, photographs, film, carvings, paintings and installations.
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| BANUMBIRR
The Brightest Star
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'Banumbirr' The Brightest Star is a unique collection of poles, created by senior artists and family members from Galiwin'ku (Elcho Island), a small Island off the northern shores of Arnhem Land. Great lengths of feathered strings and pul pul (bunches of feathers) which represent the star. The Poles were created with as much care and reverence and are still held sacred by their makers.
Songs and dances celebrating the importance of the Banumbirr, the morning star (Venus) are performed annually in Dhuwa.
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| Captain James Cook RN 'The Pirate' |
Dianne Jones has reproduced John Webber's Portrait of Captain James Cook RN, 1782 as her ready made artwork. Her intervention is minimal; a pencil line moustache and goatee beard, reminiscent of a well groomed pirate, have been applied to the face of the explorer who claimed the Australian East Coast in the name of King George III of England in 1770. Jones' intend here is to challenge Cook's claim that the country was terra nullius (the concept of land that belongs to no one). and to assert instead that he was a pirate who stole the continent.
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