S6 EP3 Faces Today: Indigenous Artists Return the Gaze

Colonial portraits have long dictated how Indigenous people were seen. But Indigenous artists continue to challenge that power. Through satire, reinterpretation, and resistance, they’re using art to question history—and reshape the future.  

In this episode, historians Kate Fullagar and Mike McDonnell speak with contemporary Indigenous artists who are confronting the legacy of empire. Michel Tuffery, a New Zealand-based artist of Samoan, Tahitian, and Cook Islander heritage, reimagines Captain Cook through the eyes of those he encountered. Daniel Boyd, one of Australia’s most celebrated contemporary artists, subverts colonial iconography, turning figures like Cook into symbols of piracy and exploitation. Daniel Browning, an Aboriginal journalist and art critic, reflects on the power—and the lies—embedded in colonial paintings. 

Can art break the cycle of representation, or does it always carry the weight of its past? Join us on this final episode of Unsettling Portraits to find out. 

Episode images 

Cookie in the Islands 

This representation of Captain James Cook belongs to a narrative series titled ‘First Contact’. The series retells the story of James Cook’s Pacific voyages from a Polynesian perspective, focusing on the profound way in which Cook himself was altered through his experiences in the Pacific. His identity is altered, as marked by hibiscus flowers, hei-tiki around his neck and his Polynesian features. The name Cookie is not only a more familiar name for Captain Cook but it is also a nickname for a Cook Islander. (Curator's comments) 

By Michel Tuffery. 2009. British Museum. 

Portrait of Captain James Cook RN 

By John Webber, 1782. National Portrait Gallery Australia   

Captain No Beard  

By Daniel Boyd, Kudjla/Gangalu/Kuku Yalanji/Jagara/Wangerriburra/Bandjalung peoples, 2005. National Gallery of Australia.  

Nannultera, a young Poonindie cricketer 

By J.M. Crossland, 1854. National Gallery of Australia. 

Portrait - Eva Johnson, writer 

By Destiny Deacon, 1994. Queensland Art Gallery. 

Guests 

Michel Tuffery, a New Zealand-based artist of Samoan, Rarotongan, and Ma’ohi Tahitian heritage, creates work that bridges environmental, cultural, and historical divides. Known for his role as a connector between people and places, he engages communities through exhibitions, research, and residencies across the Pacific and beyond. A passionate educator, he shares his kaupapa and knowledge with young people through workshops in New Zealand and abroad. Appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2008 for his contributions to art, he continues to enrich communities through his creative practice.