In 1998, when I first painted the Flag in my hometown on my homeland, some prominent people, both White and Black were disgruntled; not due to any direct aspect of the Flag itself, but rather due to Aboriginal presence in the area being inadvertently proclaimed in such a forward manner.
Some people did not want Aboriginal historical presence in the area to be spoken of so loudly, due to unfounded fears and shameful behavior.
It was expected that I would paint over it to correct my ‘supposed’ divisive actions, but as these images show, I was obviously unapologetic.
That which was not known at the time, is that before painting the Flag, it was my intention to paint it with the Australian flag adjacent; however, once I had received adverse reactions, I left the painting as is, in defiance of people’s ignorance.
At that time, to their credit, there were some local White people, new to the area by a few years, questioning as to why the Aboriginal identity of the region was at the level of only a mere whisper, which encouraged me to continue to press the matter with my art.
Since that time, hundreds of Aboriginal people have been exiled from this part of their Land due to the corruption within Native Title bodies. Ironically and hypocritically, this corruption has had assistance from some of the same people that were initially against my painting of the Flag, specifically, the Aboriginal historical presence in the area that it proclaimed.
- This is not a grievance or a political statement, but merely the story behind my painting. Chris D.