Blak Douglas (artist: Indigenous Australian / free speech / political art)

Today I'm joined by Australian First Nations artist BLAK DOUGLAS to discuss his highly political art, censorship in the Australian arts with regard to speaking out about Palestine, and the legacy of colonization in Australia, his identity, and his work. Blak has won numerous major prizes, including the Archibald Prize (2022), and his paintings hang on most major museum walls in the country where his ancestors have been custodians of the land for tens of thousands of years before and after Europeans arrived.

Learn more about Blak and check out his artwork at his website: https://blakdouglas.com.au/about/

5AM StoryTalk would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which this podcast is recorded, the Djarra people of the Kulin Nation and pay respects to Elders past and present.

A BONUS EPISODE, exclusive to 5AM StoryTalk’s bad-ass paid subscribers, is also available via Apple Podcasts or ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ at Substack: https://colehaddon.substack.com/p/bonus-episode-blak-douglas-talks

In it, Blak and I discussing a seminal piece of art from his life – the 1966 Australian $1 banknote, which featured a design that brazenly stole the bark paintings of Aboriginal artist David Malangi.

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Show notes. Blak and I discuss the following and much more:

• His brutally candid thoughts about Australia’s colonial history and its impact on his identity and artistic journey
• His art as protest and education
• His early life growing up, the son of an Aboriginal father and white mother, in a white monoculture still reckoning with its White Only Policy
• The impact of early Aboriginal artistic mentors and the pivotal role they played in his creative life, but also his desire to embrace his Aboriginal identity
• Why he ultimately adopted the name "Blak Douglas"
• Australia’s art scene and the challenges that face artists – especially Aboriginal artists – who speak out on issues that a small group of gallery gatekeepers don’t agree with (meaning: the challenges to free speech in the Australian arts today)

Links:

• Learn more about Blak and his work at his website: https://blakdouglas.com.au/about/
• Follow Blak at Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blakdouglas/
• Read about the Welcome to Country acknowledgment of Australia, which is discussed in this episode: https://www.reconciliation.org.au/reconciliation/acknowledgement-of-country-and-welcome-to-country/

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