Sovereignty
An exhibition of more than 30 Indigenous artists, past and present, brings the struggle for a treaty to vivid life.
IN MARCH 2016, Melbournebased Indigenous activist Nayuka Gorrie wrote a piece for VICE titled ‘Fuck Your Constitutional Recognition, I Want a Treaty’ – and it went a bit viral. In April, Moreland Council voted to begin Treaty negotiations with the traditional owners of the land, the Wurundjeri. In May, a twoday summit of stakeholders held by the Victorian government body Aboriginal Victoria led to the formation of the Aboriginal Treaty Interim Working Group. As Stan Grant said: “You just cannot overestimate how potentially groundbreaking this is. Australia is the only Commonwealth country that does not have a treaty with its first peoples. And now Victoria has opened up the space, not just for the discussion, but potentially real commitment to following through as well.”
The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art’s exhibition
Sovereignty seeks to explore the history behind the current debate around Treaty versus Recognition, as well as contemporary responses by artists and activists. The line-up includes new commissions and big names like Brook Andrew, Vicki Couzens, Gary Foley, Reko Rennie, and Destiny Deacon and Virginia Fraser. At the centre of Sovereignty, however, is a lesser-known artist: 19th-century Ngurungaeta elder and Wurundjeri leader William Barak, a leading figure in the Coranderrk rebellions of the 1870s and 1880s who is now recognised for his paintings in ochre and charcoal. ACCA director Max Delany, co-curator of the exhibition, identifies Barak as “exemplary” within a show that fuses art, politics and community. “While the exhibition is focusing on contemporary art by First Nations artists from Victoria, it also features some really important historical figures, and specific regional practices that might not usually be seen within a visual arts context. It’s a rich and complex weave of cultural, social and political contexts.”
The title ‘Sovereignty’ is used advisedly. Co-curator Paola Balla, a Wemba-wemba and Gunditjmara artist, curator and academic, says: “Our sovereignty as Indigenous people is inalienable. Indigenous Australians never ceded it. And that means that your laws do not apply to us. And yet we are forced to send our children to colonial state schools, pay taxes to a government that stole our lands and doesn’t repatriate the royalties in return for the use of our lands…”
Works in the exhibition range from a 19th century shield to contemporary woven eel traps by Bronwyn Razem, music by hip hop artist Briggs, and Steven Rhall’s subversive artwork ‘The Biggest Aboriginal Artwork in Melbourne Metro’ (2014), originally installed on a supermarket shopfront in Footscray.
Balla, who like Rhall lives in Footscray, says, “In this show, we’re saying we [Indigenous Victorians] didn’t go anywhere – we’re still here. And we make really good art – we want you to come and see it. Sometimes art is the best vehicle for changing people’s minds.”
ÀACCA, 111 Sturt St, Southbank 3006. 03 9697 9999. acca.melbourne. Tue-fri 10am-5pm; Sat, Sun 11am-5pm. Free. Until Mar 26.
“We are forced to pay taxes to a government that stole our lands”