Tony Albert’s 2022 solo exhibition at Sullivan+Strumpf, Remark, continues the artist’s investigation into the imagery and identification of appropriated Indigenous Australian iconography in domestic decoration and design. Incorporating fabric from his extensive collection of ‘Aboriginalia’, Remark sees Albert expand on his acclaimed Conversations with Margaret Preston series dimensionality, critically engaging with the fabric in his own right. Like the fabric of Australian society, the appropriated Indigenous imagery printed on souvenir tea towels intertwines in a complicated web of national identity. These are not images by Aboriginal people and our voices and autonomy continued to be silenced through the object’s inauthenticity. As a country we must reconcile with these objects’ very existence. They are painful reiterations of a violent and oppressive history, but we also cannot hide or destroy them because they are an important societal record that should not be forgotten. As an artist this juxtaposition and tension fascinates me. Tony Albert’s multidisciplinary practice investigates contemporary legacies of colonialism, prompting audiences to contemplate the human condition. Drawing on both personal and collective histories, Albert explores the ways in which optimism can be utilised to overcome adversity. His work poses important questions such as how do we remember, give justice to, and rewrite complex and traumatic histories. Albert’s technique and imagery are distinctly contemporary, displacing traditional Australian Aboriginal aesthetics with an urban conceptuality. Appropriating textual references from sources as diverse as popular music, film, fiction, and art history, Albert plays with the tension arising from the visibility, and in-turn, the invisibility of Aboriginal People across the news media, literature, and the visual world. australian first nations art, colonialisation

Waa Waa – Crow Feathers is a painting from Aunty Marlene Gilson’s 2022 exhibition ‘Bunjil Wour Kun Ya – Spirit of My Ancestors’. This work tells the story of Waa-Waa, the first Wadawurrung to see a white man, Matthew Flinders and his crew surveying the southern Australian coastline near the You Yangs on 1 May 1802. Speaking to Wyndham Art Gallery’s curatorial framework themes of Foregrounding, Habitat and Localism, the work portrays in Wadawurrung lore the first sighting of a European and acknowledges Australian First Nations peoples original and ongoing connections with land, history, politics and knowledges of place. The scene is overlooking the You Yangs which is deeply connected with the local place and habitat of the Werribee Plain. Aunty Marlene Gilson is a Wathaurung (Wadawarrung) Elder living on country in Gordon, near Ballarat. Marlene Gilson’s multi-figure paintings work to overturn the colonial grasp on the past by reclaiming and re-contextualising the representation of historical events. Learning her Wathaurung history from her grandmother, Gilson began painting while recovering from an illness. The artist’s meticulously rendered works display a narrative richness and theatrical quality akin to the traditional genre of history painting. Gilson, however, privileges those stories relating to her ancestral land, which covers Ballarat, Werribee, Geelong, Skipton and the Otway Ranges in Victoria. Often including her two totems, Bunjil the Eagle and Waa the Crow, Gilson’s paintings not only reconfigure historical narratives, but display her spiritual connection to Country. australian first nations art, cultural story, australian painting, wathaurung, female artist

Karen Casey (1956 – 2021) Palawaaustralian first nations art, female artist, projection, video art

From the tranquil Lake Condah on Gunditjmara land, my artistic journey began on my Grandmothers country (Gunditjmara). Over six fruitful years, I've honed my craft as a professional artist, specialising in acrylics on canvas, captivating murals of varying scales, and digital innovation. A modern storyteller, my creations intricately weave tales of place, country, identity, and connection—a tribute to the past, a celebration of the present, and a gaze into the future. My palette, a symphony of colours, harmonises with each location's spirit and the rhythm of changing seasons. Having collaborated with Government, Private, and Corporate sectors, my work has adorned diverse spaces with its charm. A pivotal chapter saw me join forces with the esteemed artist Adnate, together crafting five murals that transcend reality, delve into cultural depths, and explore spirituality. As I stand today, my art echoes untold stories, honouring heritage, and uniting human experiences across time's canvas.Muralpublic art, mural, australian first nations art, cultural story

This artwork is a story of life over coming darkness. Rebirth and renewal. As a Bunurong person this story means a lot to my people, this represents community past, present and future and the struggles we have had to overcome to become the people we are today in the world we are today. Kobi Summers is a young emerging Aboriginal Artist, who is a Proud Bunurong Man living in Melbourne. He specialises in Digital Art, Contemporary aboriginal Canvas Art, Mural Art and Clothing Art.australian first nations art, bunurong, cultural story

A central tableau is beautifully lit to expose choreographed arrangements of plants, animals, objects and food. Grounded in a photographic aesthetic that echoes Dutch Old Master paintings, they examine the industry and practices that have so effectively brought damage to traditional Aboriginal culture, the natural environment of the Australian continent – and the globe. Each image explores an aspect of the devastating impact of colonisation on Australia’s First Nations peoples, and the global repercussions of environmental degradation. The translation of the French in the title of this series, “Natures mortes” is dead nature. Yet in the simmering emotional register of each image lies an inherent belief in the individual over environment, and the redemptive nature of culture. australian first nations art, photography, colonialisation, environment

Invasion places an imaginative eye in Australian colonial history and turns around the dominant view, taking alien creatures into iconic London-based cityscapes, with white urban residents their victims. Cook's images express the shock that enveloped the Australian continent when European people appeared on Aboriginal shores. Aboriginals as aliens, sci-fi scaled animals - featherless birds, super sized grubs, giant lizards, possums on ufo's, laser shooting fembots, and clouds of rainbow lorikeets - arrive into urban London, the 'mother' country, and wreak havoc. Within the broad narrative are mini narratives that speak to the past, historical references that tease out and reverse the racist practices imposed on Aboriginals. The drama of such an event heightened with the use of vintage-inspired B-grade horror movie aesthetic - an ironic 'spoofy' edge.australian first nations art, photography, colonialisation, sci-fi

Invasion places an imaginative eye in Australian colonial history and turns around the dominant view, taking alien creatures into iconic London-based cityscapes, with white urban residents their victims. Cook's images express the shock that enveloped the Australian continent when European people appeared on Aboriginal shores. Aboriginals as aliens, sci-fi scaled animals - featherless birds, super sized grubs, giant lizards, possums on ufo's, laser shooting fembots, and clouds of rainbow lorikeets - arrive into urban London, the 'mother' country, and wreak havoc. Within the broad narrative are mini narratives that speak to the past, historical references that tease out and reverse the racist practices imposed on Aboriginals. The drama of such an event heightened with the use of vintage-inspired B-grade horror movie aesthetic - an ironic 'spoofy' edge.australian first nations art, photography, colonialisation, sci-fi

wāni toaishara is a Congolese artist living and working in Melbourne. His practice explores African Futurisms, Statelessness, Indigeneity, climate justice, those on the margins of those movements and dialogues, Indigenous knowledge production and the effects of dislocation in a globalised anti-Black, Afrophobic society. Final Solution enters the Darebin Art Collection as the winning work of the 2021 Darebin Art Prize. A personal and introspective moving image work, Final Solution features the artist’s family and friends as a way of interrogates some of these broader ideas, speaking to urgent issues both in this nation and on an international level. The powerful message is offset by a sense of intimacy, much needed as we move forward amid the paradigm shifts of the last two years.

Excerpt from Lower Plenty River Archaeological Survey by Fiona Weaver. Section 5 on Aboriginal archaeological sites in the Lower Plenty River area.A survey of First Nations sites in the Lower Plenty River area.Copy of part of book.lower plenty river, aboriginal sites

Jenna Lee dissects and reconstructs colonial 'Indigenous dictionaries' and embeds the works with new cultural meaning. Long obsessed with the duality of the destructive and healing properties that fire can yield, this element has been applied to the paper in the forms of burning and mark-making. In Without Us, Lee uses charcoal to conceal the text on the page, viewing this process as a ritualistic act of reclaiming and honouring Indigenous heritage while challenging the oppressive legacies of colonialism. Lee explains in Art Guide (2022), ‘These books in particular [used to create the proposed works] are Aboriginal language dictionaries—but there’s no such thing as “Aboriginal language”. There are hundreds of languages. The dictionary just presents words, with no reference to where they came from. It was specifically published by collating compendiums from the 1920s, 30s and 40s, with the purpose to give [non-Indigenous] people pleasant sounding Aboriginal words to name children, houses and boats. And yet the first things that were taken from us was our language, children, land and water. And the reason our words were so widely written down was because [white Australians] were trying to eradicate us. They thought we were going extinct. The deeper you get into it, the darker it gets. But the purpose of my work is to take those horrible things and cast them as something beautiful.’Framed artwork

BHS CollectionThree pages, the first titled Neighbourhood Watch. The second, dated 2/6/97, mentions a phone call to the City of Greater Bendigo about speaking to Marco in the Planning Department. The third, dated 30/5/97, also mentions Eaglehawk Heritage Society, Cornish Miners, Cornish Association, Long Gully School, Department of Main Roads, St laurence Court, Charles Fay, La Trobe History Department. It has Cheryl Wallis signature at the bottom of page.bendigo, history, long gully history group, the long gully history group - neighbourhood watch, edward clarence dyason, isaac dyason, george lansell, st andrew's college, melbourne university, bendigo amalgamated goldfield company, chamber of mines, gold producers association, bendigo mines limited, league of nations, australian institute for international affairs, melbourne syphony orchestra, world war ii, british commonwealth relations conference, powercor australia, city of greater bendigo, eaglehawk heritage society, cornish association, long gully school, department of main roads, st laurence court, charles fay, la trobe history department, cheryl wallis

all nations park

BOUND FOLDER, BLACK CARDBOARD COVER 152 PAGESnon-fictionFred Cahir tells the story about the magnitude of Aboriginal involvement on the Victorian goldfields in the middle of the nineteenth century. The first history of Aboriginal–white interaction on the Victorian goldfields, Black Gold offers new insights on one of the great epochs in Australian and world history—the gold story. In vivid detail it describes how Aboriginal people often figured significantly in the search for gold and documents the devastating social impact of gold mining on Victorian Aboriginal communities. It reveals the complexity of their involvement from passive presence, to active discovery, to shunning the goldfields. This detailed examination of Aboriginal people on the goldfields of Victoria provides striking evidence which demonstrates that Aboriginal people participated in gold mining and interacted with non-Aboriginal people in a range of hitherto neglected ways. Running through this book are themes of Aboriginal empowerment, identity, integration, resistance, social disruption and communication. For more information on Aboriginal History Inc. please visit aboriginalhistory.org.au.first nations history, australia's victorian goldfields

Here we tell of Americans who are in South vietnam to build. They are there to build, that is . by helping and teaching the people of south Vietnam to build the things - the social links and services and the common institutions - without which no people can have and be a nation.vietnam war, 1961-1975 - united states, united states - relations - vietnam, president johnson, vinh binh province, phuong thanh, bien hoa province

An image of a serpent in the centre of the work. The serpent is depicted in white dots. Its body has sections of yellow and blue. It's head is burgundy. Surrounding the serpent in each corner there are four handprints. The background of the work is painted blue, red and yellow areas which look sponged. Surrounding the artwork is a border of black and white also with a sponged effect. It is framed in dark brown plain wood.first nations, aboriginal art, serpent

Always wanting to paint the bushfire. Seen heaps of things with burning of heath land for Alcoa and went running through it like we were in the fire. It was beautiful but we were crying as we didn’t want them to do it. We were right in the middle of it as it was all glowing everywhere. Always fascinated by that fire when I think about it as we tried to stop it but they bought the police out and we couldn’t get in there as they had security and we were surrounded. We camped out there for four years we had the camp and would come and go from the house in town. Zac Martin and heaps of people in and out and good times with Uncle Banjo and newspaper journalists. 30 years ago this was, late 70’s and took 6 years to get them to court. Flew a guy out from America (the equaliser) who interviewed us about why we were doing it. They burnt right along the cliff whilst we were camped there and we had seen the seasons and got into the spirit of the land with native blossom and it was beautiful – and they burnt it all, all the little animals, it was incredible as the heathland was absolutely beautiful, it was magic and they could not see that. They pegged it out to do it all and we would sneak out and move the pegs and we tried to fight them every which way. Amy was there with all her kids in a massive striped tent but she moved them out when the police came to move us out. They had us surrounded, police from everywhere. We had no water and people would bring us water and food. Another time a big bushfire came through and we had to get in the dam at Lake Condah Mission. I was aged around 10 or 11.” June 2014 As recorded by Anna Louise Sheba for the entry in the Victorian Indigenous Arts Award Ballarat. Ms. Christina Isabel Saunders Traditional Landowner Elder Gundij Mara Tribe (South Western Victoria, Australia) Descendant of Kilcarer – Cape Bridgewater Clan and Gilgar - Lake Condah Mission Clan A depiction of bushfire. Red, yellow, orange and black paint. Swirls and shapes to represent the flames.Tina Saunders (bottom right in orange paint)aboriginal art, first nations, bushfire, bush, landscape

Thirty-four years after the last Australian troops left Viet Nam, Viet Nam Shots provides a compelling and comprehensive illustrated history of Australia's involvement in the war that divided a nation.vietnam war, 1961-1975- australia, australia. army, denis gibbons, sgt bill errington, ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

merri-bek public art collection

Far too many of these brave soldiers have suffered illness as a result of their services, and now we know that, for many of them, the health effects were also passed along to their children. That is more than anyone can ask in terms of service to nation.vietnam war, 1961-1975- - chemical warfare - health aspects, veterans - diseases - australia, wayne "sam" brown, conscription - australia, infantry medic, corps 3, chemical warfare

Black bound book with silver writing on spine. Dust jacket has collage of photographs on front, spine is black with white writing on it.non-fiction'Mercy trains - Australian Army Ambulance trains during World War II recounts the hitherto untold story of trains provided by Australia's State railway departments to convey the tens of thousands of the armed force's sick and wounded needing transportation across the continent. Conceived as large-scale ambulances to evacuate battle casualties suffered on Australian soil in the event of a landing by enemy forces, their role changed when Australia was spared the trauma of invasion. Instead, the trains becam mobile hospitals: their task to convey invalids from all allied (and enemy) forces to medical centres throughout the nation. One major assignment was to bring south from Queensland casualties evacuated from the battlefields of Papua-New Guinea, whose numbers reached crisis proportions at the close of 1942 and into early 1943. The trains were operated by United States Army personnel for twelve months, one in New South Wales and one in Queensland. Author Jim Harvey spent three years searching through Army (both Australian and U.S.) and railway department files and what he found was a story of demanding military, a penny-pinching government prepared to endanger the lives of train staff rather than permit necessary improvements, some railway operating problems, fires, more than a fair share of floods, a bombing attack, examples of a generosity from caring local communities, a dexicated staff of doctors, nurses, medical orderlies and cooks, supported at all times by sympathetic railwayment of all grades.' [from inside front dust jacked]australian nurses, world war two, wwii, ww2, papua new guinea, pacific theatre, homefront, australia

non-fictionA typescript with some pages handwritten of the life of Nathan Spielvogel founder of the Ballarat Historical Society, teacher and community leader. Tied at top corner with ribbon.memoir, spielvogel, ballarat, dimboola, jewish

1988 is Australia's Bicentennial year: a year in which we celebrate the fact that we are a free nation, proud of our milticultural heritage and working with confidence toward the twentyfirst century.vietnam veterans reunion, prime minister r.j. hawke, prime miister of new zealand hon. d. lange

More than sixty-three thousand young Australians were drafted into national service during the Vietnam War. The 'nashos' were chosen by chance, when their brithdates were drawn from a lottery barrel. Not all of them ended up in vietnam, but their random fatee came to symbolise the war, and divide a nation. vietnam war, 1961-1975 -- participation, australian, draft -- australia -- history, australia -- armed forces -- recruiting, private errol noack, battle of long tan, operation bribie, vung tau, battle of coral-balmoral, trooper normie rowe, battle of binh ba, sas