Week 3: Indigenous Deaths in Custody

In March this year, a report was conducted on the state of deaths occurring in custody, particularly in regards to Indigenous deaths in custody. The report found several alarming statistics:

-Around 30,000 people are behind bars in Australia. Indigenous inmates account for 26% of this number, yet only account for 2% of the general population.

-The number of Indigenous people in prison has almost doubled within the last 20 years.

-Indigenous deaths in custody have decreased over the past decade but have risen again recently.

-In 2008-09, 15 Indigenous people died behind bars. In 2010-11, 21 Indigenous people died behind bars.

Yes, there is some truth in saying that of course the number of Indigenous people in prison has risen in the last twenty years because the population of Indigenous people in Australia has risen. It is also true that the AIC report shows that increasingly these deaths are due to natural causes, like cancer and heart and liver conditions, rather than the previous leading cause of self-harm. 

Yet there are obviously serious flaws in the justice sector of the Close the Gap program if such disproportionate statistics regarding the size of the Indigenous population and the number of those people in custody still exist. Such a number of deaths highlights that there needs to be more awareness of the health of prisoners who deserve proper medical treatment to prevent these deaths from occurring, or that the terminally ill should live their final days outside of prison with their families. We are also led to question: just why are so many Indigenous people in prison? Is there over-policing occurring? It seems like the supposed objectivity of the justice system needs reassessing.

[statistics source ABC News]

Week 2: AIME Mentoring

This year I decided to sign up for a newly launched program at UniSA, AIME Mentoring. The purpose of this program is to assist young Indigenous people with aspirations to go to to uni by instilling in them the self-belief and confidence to make it possible. Previously, it had only been run on the east coast, but slowly it is spreading out across Australia. It is a mentoring program, so each mentor is matched up with a young mentee who they are able to work and establish a relationship with for the entire year. As a member of the core program, I have been able to spend an hour every week with my mentee and have completed such weekly tasks as writing and performing a hip hop song and acting out our very own play! These are the sorts of activities that would usually petrify me, so not only am I incredibly proud of my mentee, but proud of myself for trying new things and gaining confidence. It has been wonderful working with the kids (Years 9 and 10) from a variety of schools. Even though sometimes I find out what the weekly tasks will be and fret that my mentee will refuse to participate and want to drop out of the program, she continues to turn up week after week and push herself past her limits. Not only is this program all about "getting kids to uni", but I think it is a really important way of interacting with people of Indigenous heritage and doing our best to greater appreciate their culture, traditions and stories. I would encourage as many people as possible to join the program next year as it can only grow!

[image source Karma Currency Foundation]

Week 1: Colour Theory with Richard Bell: Reko Rennie

[image source NITV]

Last week on Thursday night I really enjoyed being introduced to Richard Bell's NITV program Colour Theory. Through this show, Bell interviews contemporary artists from Australia's Indigenous community, showcasing a range of media from painting and sculpture to new media. According to the NITV website, previous episodes have featured one of my favourite directors Warwick Thornton and South Australian artist Nici Cumpston. Last week he interviewed someone I was unfamiliar with, Reko Rennie, whose work is also currently featured on the latest cover of Artlink Indigenous. Rennie is a very interesting predominantly street artist who creates vibrant, saturated works that populate the world.

Reko Rennie 

[image source Space Craft Australia]

I think what I love most about Rennie's work is its relationship with colour. The bright pinks, greens, blues and purples are not what may usually be associated with the idea of Indigenous art, and yet the forms and image references he employs are often associated with this iconography, so his work stays true to his Indigenous heritage whilst being individualistic and modern. My first reaction to the work was that it reminded me of both Pop and Op art, which historically have been associated with the western, anglophile world. Therefore, Rennie creates a certain rebranding of history, claiming a foothold in the history of western art from which even until recently had been forbidden from Indigenous artists.

TRUST THE 2%, 2013, Acrylic, MDF and gold, 19 x 14 m

[image source Reko Rennie]

Despite what the viewer may initially feel of Rennie's work, there is a fascinating depth to the work, commonly concerned with the Stolen Generation period of Australian history, the position of Indigenous Australians as the original custodians of the land, and the uneasy relationship between white and Indigenous Australians which remains today. In the program, Rennie stated that he can forgive the history of white persecution of the Indigenous population, but he cannot forget it, so in a way his art stands as a voice towards further and more persistant efforts towards reconciliation.

Original, 2012, Acrylic, spray paint, black light and reclaimed Australian flag from the 1950s

[image source Reko Rennie]

Overall I have realised that I simply love his work. The graphic qualities of it capture my attention immediately, and then the political messages his work predominantly wishes to convey retain it. It surprised me to find out that Rennie takes a lot of inspiration from the land and frequently visits the bush to take photos which spark his inspiration. He is also inspired by the diversity of the city, particularly Melbourne where he lives, and I find it compelling that he is able to combine the dualities of the bush and the city in such an easily comprehended manner. I think Rennie has been very clever to develop a style of work with aesthetic value as well as a social one, although I suppose this is the concern of most street art. I would be curious to further study his work as I am excited to see what coming projects he has in store. I also can't wait for this week's edition of Colour Theory!

In the Name of the Father, 2012

[image source Reko Rennie]

Always Was, Always Will Be, 2012

[image source Reko Rennie]

Le Mur Installation, Paris, 2010