WEBVTT - Inside the ‘white hands on black art’ saga

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<v Speaker 1>I've worked with many of the artists and the art

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<v Speaker 1>centers from the ap Wylands over decades now, and I

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<v Speaker 1>had been made aware that they were working on a

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<v Speaker 1>really ambitious project of major three by three meter paintings

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<v Speaker 1>and that they were looking to build a community project

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<v Speaker 1>and would seek venues later for this major project.

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<v Speaker 2>Bruce Johnson MacLean is a weary person from Central Queensland.

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<v Speaker 2>He's an art curator. His role to work with artists

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<v Speaker 2>to bring their vision to a wider audience. It's what

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<v Speaker 2>he's done for most of his life. In twenty twenty one,

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<v Speaker 2>he was working at the National Gallery as Assistant Director

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<v Speaker 2>of Indigenous Engagement when he heard about this project coming

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<v Speaker 2>out of the ap Wylands in the Central Australian desert.

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<v Speaker 2>It was called in Guapooka or Epic Country. He was

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<v Speaker 2>excited to see what they were making.

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<v Speaker 1>They saw images quite early of the first I believe

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<v Speaker 1>it was nine paintings that they produced. And the artists

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<v Speaker 1>of the apy Lands are really well known for bringing

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<v Speaker 1>a real vibrance and a real color to desert painting.

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<v Speaker 1>So these desert paintings based on or informed by dreaming stories.

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<v Speaker 1>In recent years, the apy artists have bought very contemporary

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<v Speaker 1>ideas into desert painting as well.

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<v Speaker 2>I've been fortunate enough to see some ap y in

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<v Speaker 2>the flesh and up close, and it's exactly as you describe, vivid,

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<v Speaker 2>seeing all the colors in the desert that you don't

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<v Speaker 2>know that are there until they pointed out to you.

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<v Speaker 2>You must have been tremendously excited at the prospect of

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<v Speaker 2>exhibiting their work.

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<v Speaker 1>I was really excited, and when we started seeing the

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<v Speaker 1>actual works, I was blown away. This is a really

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<v Speaker 1>kind of ambitious group of artist Many of them are

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<v Speaker 1>you know, really well known in Australia but also internationally,

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<v Speaker 1>but by the same sort of token. A lot of

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<v Speaker 1>artists don't get recognized through a major exhibition until, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>long after they're dead. So the artists really wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>make this show to celebrate themselves and each other, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>while they were still alive. So they took the initiative

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<v Speaker 1>of building this exhibition, and you know, it is quite

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<v Speaker 1>unique in the way that they've gone about doing it.

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<v Speaker 1>They've just taken it all on themselves and then have

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<v Speaker 1>gone out and looked for partners in museums and galleries

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<v Speaker 1>who might want to show that body of work.

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<v Speaker 2>Bruce wanted to be that partner and good to Pooker

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<v Speaker 2>was one of the largest and most significant First Nations

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<v Speaker 2>community driven art projects to have ever been developed. He

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<v Speaker 2>jumped at the chance to work with them and bring

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<v Speaker 2>their art to a massive audience at the National Gallery

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<v Speaker 2>of Australia.

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<v Speaker 1>So the exhibition itself was partially on the walls. It

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<v Speaker 1>was probably seventy eighty percent installed. When the stories started

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<v Speaker 1>coming out and everything sort of stopped. A Holt was

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<v Speaker 1>put on the show.

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<v Speaker 3>This is the biggest scandal to rock the Indigenous art

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<v Speaker 3>world in years, accusations of white hands interfering with Aboriginal art.

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<v Speaker 2>In a front page story in the weeknd Australian was

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<v Speaker 2>the headline white hands on prized Black paintings from the

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<v Speaker 2>ap Wylands. It may claims the white studio staff were

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<v Speaker 2>interfering with Indigenous artworks in a significant way and sparked

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<v Speaker 2>a media campaign and a horror year for the collective.

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<v Speaker 2>From Schwartz Media, I'm Daniel James. This is seven AM

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<v Speaker 2>Today curated Bruce John MacLean and reported Gabriela Koslovich on

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<v Speaker 2>the ap Y Art scandal and the complicated question of

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<v Speaker 2>authenticity in the Aboriginal art world. It's Friday, August thirty,

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<v Speaker 2>Gabriela Koslovich. You've been looking into the whole saga around

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<v Speaker 2>the Ingura Polka show and it really started with a video.

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<v Speaker 2>Tell me more about what happened.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, about two months before the Nuapulka exhibition was about

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<v Speaker 4>to start, a video was leaked and stills from that

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<v Speaker 4>video were published in the Weekend Australian, alongside an extensive

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<v Speaker 4>front page story with the damning headline white Hands on

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<v Speaker 4>Black Art, claiming that white staff were interfering with the

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<v Speaker 4>work of Indigenous artists.

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<v Speaker 5>And what design that I put on my painting and

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<v Speaker 5>then she would come along and then she would paint

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<v Speaker 5>over it and then start backing in.

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<v Speaker 4>And at the center of this story was this highly

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<v Speaker 4>alarming video which showed two young white studio assistants busily

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<v Speaker 4>working on and around a large canvas by First Nations

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<v Speaker 4>artists yaraging young and then and one of the young

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<v Speaker 4>white women, the art center manager, Rosie Palmer, is seen

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<v Speaker 4>vigorously applying paint to the canvas in large circular shapes

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<v Speaker 4>or rock holes, and discussing the composition of the work,

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<v Speaker 4>for example, asking could it do with another rock hole there?

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<v Speaker 4>Or is that going to be too circular? Do have

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<v Speaker 4>another rock?

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<v Speaker 2>Sir?

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<v Speaker 1>What? Probably good?

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<v Speaker 4>The artist is also there, you can see her out

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<v Speaker 4>of frame. Nonetheless, this video seemed to be irrefutable proof

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<v Speaker 4>that white studio assistants were overstepping their role. We later

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<v Speaker 4>learned that a private art dealer and rival of the

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<v Speaker 4>Apy Art Center collective had paid an Indigenous man thousand

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<v Speaker 4>dollars for that video. So it cast out on the

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<v Speaker 4>success of this collective and the integrity of this collective.

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<v Speaker 4>The story became more or less a campaign against the collective,

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<v Speaker 4>and more than seventy five stories followed, so it was

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<v Speaker 4>really it became the art scandal of twenty twenty three.

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<v Speaker 3>Five indigenous artists and six former studio employees had alleged

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<v Speaker 3>that there had been white interference.

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<v Speaker 4>Allegations of quote, white hands on black art.

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<v Speaker 2>The allegations which are the is that white studio staff

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<v Speaker 2>that literally helped paint some of the works themselves to

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<v Speaker 2>actually make them more appealing to white bars as a

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<v Speaker 2>crazy amount of focus for any newspaper to give a story,

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<v Speaker 2>let alone an art story. What was the content of

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<v Speaker 2>those stories and tell me a bit more about the

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<v Speaker 2>narrative that emerged from those stories.

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<v Speaker 4>Yes, it was extraordinary and inordinate. The focus essentially was

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<v Speaker 4>just bedding down these serious allegations that were being made

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<v Speaker 4>about the Apy Arts Center collective that went beyond the video,

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<v Speaker 4>and that alleged that white staff routinely were painting substantial

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<v Speaker 4>parts of Indigenous artists' work, not just at Jolla Arts,

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<v Speaker 4>which is where that video was taken, but also at

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<v Speaker 4>the Adelaide headquarters of the Apy Art Center collective. There

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<v Speaker 4>were also claims that of mismanagement by the ap Art

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<v Speaker 4>Center collective and coercive control of Indigenous artists. Then there

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<v Speaker 4>were stories about how these revelations had decimated the indigenous

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<v Speaker 4>art market and they set off a chain reaction of

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<v Speaker 4>investigations into the Apy Art Center collective.

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<v Speaker 1>You've got to keep in mind that to just forge

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<v Speaker 1>your head with the exhibition while all of these stories

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<v Speaker 1>are happening, means that these stories would have been the

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<v Speaker 1>story of the exhibition, not the story of those works,

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<v Speaker 1>not the stories that the artists are wanting to tell.

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<v Speaker 1>So the decisions were made to essentially halt the exhibition

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<v Speaker 1>until some more clarity could be gained and then the

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<v Speaker 1>calls for inquiries and things began, and the exhibition essentially

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<v Speaker 1>lost its place in the schedule, and I was then

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<v Speaker 1>sort of postponed indefinitely or at least into clarity around

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<v Speaker 1>all of these inquiries and different reviews have been finished.

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<v Speaker 2>After the break the investigations and what they meant for

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<v Speaker 2>the ap Y Art Center collective. There's a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>people watch the video that was published by The Australian

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<v Speaker 2>and were shocked. What did you think when you saw it?

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<v Speaker 1>People have their own ideas about what they think about

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<v Speaker 1>abertinal art and how it should be done. But I

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<v Speaker 1>would certainly label myself as a progressive in their space.

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<v Speaker 2>You know.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to see abatinal culture and progress and move

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<v Speaker 1>and evolve, and I want Abortinal people to have all

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<v Speaker 1>of the means that non Aboriginal people have in their

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<v Speaker 1>space as well. So you I am very aware that

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<v Speaker 1>white artists and in urban based appisal artists have studio

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<v Speaker 1>assistants that do quite a bit of this sort of

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<v Speaker 1>work for them. So the fact that desert artists are

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<v Speaker 1>engaging in contemporary studio practice for me is not a

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<v Speaker 1>shock at all, and I find it quite exciting the

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<v Speaker 1>idea that desert artists are wanting to use all of

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<v Speaker 1>the opportunities that are available to them to progress their painting.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, because the claims are that this was interference in

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<v Speaker 2>the making of this art. So how would you describe

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<v Speaker 2>the way these artists used white assistance.

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<v Speaker 1>There hasn't been a lot of direct involvement by I

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<v Speaker 1>think white studio assistants in a lot of the works.

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<v Speaker 1>There's some preparatory work, there's edging work, there's a bit

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<v Speaker 1>of touching up of spilled things or untidy things. But

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<v Speaker 1>this was probably one of the first instances where why

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<v Speaker 1>studio assistants were directly assisting the artist. And it sounds

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<v Speaker 1>really interesting when you say it like that, because these

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<v Speaker 1>are people who are employed to assist in the studio,

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<v Speaker 1>to assist these artists. So if not assisting them, what

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<v Speaker 1>are they doing there? That didn't bother me at all,

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<v Speaker 1>but it shocked and outraged a lot of people in

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<v Speaker 1>the industry. But at the same time, it was really

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<v Speaker 1>ignoring the artists. And you know, my conversations with the artists,

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<v Speaker 1>with the managers of art centers, there was a real

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<v Speaker 1>sense of frustration that nobody was listening to them through.

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<v Speaker 2>It, Gabrielle, you said, the series of stories and the

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<v Speaker 2>claims made in them went to a number of investigations.

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<v Speaker 2>So what exactly unfolded?

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<v Speaker 4>Within a week of The Australian's first story in April

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<v Speaker 4>last year, the National Gallery of Australia launched an independent

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<v Speaker 4>investigation into the collective, and this was headed by two

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<v Speaker 4>prominent lawyers, whose team delivered a thirty four page report

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<v Speaker 4>last August and found that the indigenous artists, without exception,

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<v Speaker 4>had said that the paintings had been produced by them.

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<v Speaker 4>The reviewers strongly rejected allegations that artists had engaged in

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<v Speaker 4>cover ups or dishonest practice, saying those claims had no

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<v Speaker 4>proper foundation. But the following month, in May last year,

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<v Speaker 4>the South Australian government announced its own review into the

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<v Speaker 4>management of the APY collective in partnership with the Northern

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<v Speaker 4>Territory and federal governments.

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<v Speaker 6>The South Australia and Territory governments have combined forces with

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<v Speaker 6>the Commonwealth to launch an investigation into allegations of white

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<v Speaker 6>people interfering with Indigenous art at the ap art Center Collective.

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<v Speaker 4>There were also claims that the collective was not supporting

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<v Speaker 4>a culturally safe, respectful and oropriate workplace for artists working

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<v Speaker 4>on the Apy Lands, in the art centers there and

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<v Speaker 4>also in the Adelaide studio. But this South Australian government

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<v Speaker 4>appointed panel came back with no findings, and curiously, the

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<v Speaker 4>panel did not deliver a written report. It did, however,

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<v Speaker 4>refer the matter to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

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<v Speaker 4>and to the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations,

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<v Speaker 4>and after looking at all of that material, the hble

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<v Speaker 4>C came to its findings that no breaches of consumer

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<v Speaker 4>law had been committed.

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<v Speaker 2>So as we sit here, there haven't been any findings

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<v Speaker 2>of wrongdoing against the collective.

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<v Speaker 4>No, that's absolutely right, Daniel. After more than a year

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<v Speaker 4>and after intensive investigations and scrutiny of this organization, nothing

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<v Speaker 4>has come back.

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<v Speaker 2>Tell us what the swath of investigations, what kind of

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<v Speaker 2>impact I've had for the APY Collective.

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<v Speaker 4>Just before I go into that, I want to quote

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<v Speaker 4>one of the ap y Lands artists, Selling Scales, who

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<v Speaker 4>said last year that the APY Collective was the most

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<v Speaker 4>scrutinized arts organization in the country and it certainly did

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<v Speaker 4>start to feel like that it's been a terrible time

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<v Speaker 4>for the collective and the whole saga wasn't great for

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<v Speaker 4>the indigenous art industry because in a sense, the whole

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<v Speaker 4>industry was under a cloud and art collectors were ringing

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<v Speaker 4>up the art centers on the Apy Lands and making,

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<v Speaker 4>you know, wanting documentation to prove that their works were authentic,

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<v Speaker 4>and so forth. The organization lost its station, federal funding,

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<v Speaker 4>its corporate sponsors pulled out. Sky Omara, the general manager

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<v Speaker 4>of the Apy Art Collective, told me, you know, they

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<v Speaker 4>were good, intelligent, talented women with integrity and an amazing

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<v Speaker 4>work ethic, and they were almost destroyed by these untrue stories.

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<v Speaker 4>The collective has managed to stay open though, through the

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<v Speaker 4>income of sales. Skyromara mentioned that sales increased last year

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<v Speaker 4>by three hundred thousand dollars and she's still hopeful that

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<v Speaker 4>the Nauapulka exhibition will go ahead someday as planned at

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<v Speaker 4>the National Gallery of Australia and that the paintings will

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<v Speaker 4>be bought by the gallery as as had also been planned.

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<v Speaker 2>Gabriella, thank you so much for your time.

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<v Speaker 4>Thanks Bruce.

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<v Speaker 2>She left the gallery after the exhibition was put on

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<v Speaker 2>ice did this Saga have any role to play in

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<v Speaker 2>your leaving.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, definitely. I mean, you know, seeing this exhibition developed

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<v Speaker 1>by community, seeing this incredible celebration of who they are,

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<v Speaker 1>of their stories, of their art, and of themselves and

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<v Speaker 1>each other, Seeing that not only postponed by the gallery,

0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:11.000
<v Speaker 1>but played politic with so big in the media, and

0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:15.040
<v Speaker 1>it was a real gut wrenching feeling to not only

0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:18.880
<v Speaker 1>see that happen, but to have to talk to artists

0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:22.880
<v Speaker 1>about why that's happening. You know, that's all the opposite

0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:25.800
<v Speaker 1>of the things that I've dedicated my life to to

0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:31.120
<v Speaker 1>celebrating culture, to sharing it, to sharing the joy of

0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:34.720
<v Speaker 1>aberteinbal art and life that was kind of ripped away

0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:38.160
<v Speaker 1>through a lot of that process. So absolutely that has

0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:40.400
<v Speaker 1>some bearing on departing the gallery.

0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:43.440
<v Speaker 2>What will happen to the Apy exhibition now?

0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:48.560
<v Speaker 1>Brute? The Naurapook exhibition has always been owned by the community,

0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:51.680
<v Speaker 1>by the artists. As I understand, they are talking to

0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:57.480
<v Speaker 1>a few international partners about showing the exhibition in international museums.

0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:00.440
<v Speaker 1>And one of the really exciting things that tap through

0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:06.080
<v Speaker 1>that is that there are curators and spaces in places

0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:11.439
<v Speaker 1>like the US who are really engaged with things like

0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:16.720
<v Speaker 1>critical race theory, but also have experience of Murdoch media

0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:21.640
<v Speaker 1>as well, so they are really keen to examine some

0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:26.960
<v Speaker 1>of the pieces of this exhibition and of the coverage

0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:32.119
<v Speaker 1>of this poul Saga through I think a really mature lens.

0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:35.679
<v Speaker 1>So I think that's quite exciting that not only the

0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:38.679
<v Speaker 1>art will be celebrated, but there will be a level

0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:45.680
<v Speaker 1>of critical discourse around desert artists engaging in contemporary studio practice,

0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:55.040
<v Speaker 1>around the intervention of the media into Indigenous art and

0:17:55.200 --> 0:18:00.040
<v Speaker 1>art centers and Indigenous owned businesses, and an opportunity for

0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:07.840
<v Speaker 1>community to present their story through these spaces that I

0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.080
<v Speaker 1>think perhaps if it is shown in Australia, and I'm

0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:13.320
<v Speaker 1>sure it will be shown in Australia at some point,

0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:18.800
<v Speaker 1>a lot of the conversation will center around the media

0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:22.479
<v Speaker 1>fewer or rather than the artworks. So I hope that

0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:28.400
<v Speaker 1>there's an opportunity for some balance between those things, but

0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:34.600
<v Speaker 1>also for a really mature critical discussion around what's happening

0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:35.560
<v Speaker 1>and what has happened.

0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:37.760
<v Speaker 2>Well, it might be the case of being one of

0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:39.560
<v Speaker 2>those things that we don't know what we've got until

0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:41.840
<v Speaker 2>it's gone. Bruce, thank you so much for your time

0:18:41.920 --> 0:19:01.159
<v Speaker 2>really appreciate it. You're very welcome. Also in the years today,

0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:04.200
<v Speaker 2>protesters have displayed portraits of a twenty three year old

0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:07.359
<v Speaker 2>asylum seeker who died on Wednesday after sitting himself on

0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:11.280
<v Speaker 2>fire outside the Department of Home Affairs office in Malbourne. Manow,

0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:13.960
<v Speaker 2>Younger Liningndham have been part of an active protest urging

0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:17.280
<v Speaker 2>the Labour government to give permanent visas to asylum seekers

0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:21.239
<v Speaker 2>stuck in Limbo since arriving by boat. Monow himself has

0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:24.520
<v Speaker 2>spent more than eleven years in Australia on temporary bridging visas,

0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:27.880
<v Speaker 2>and Senator Jackie Lamby says she will no longer run

0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:32.040
<v Speaker 2>state candidates and Tasmanian politics. The announcement comes after two

0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:34.920
<v Speaker 2>stadiumps We're kicked out of her namesake party, the Jackie

0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:39.720
<v Speaker 2>Lamby Network and will now continue on as independents. Seven

0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:42.159
<v Speaker 2>Am is a daily show from Schwartz Media and the

0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:45.919
<v Speaker 2>Saturday paper. Is produced by Shane Anderson, Zultan Fecho and

0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:50.000
<v Speaker 2>Zaia Tangra. Our technical producer is Atticus Bastow. We are

0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:53.679
<v Speaker 2>edited by Chris Dangate and Sarah McPhee. Eric Jensen is

0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:57.040
<v Speaker 2>our editor in chief. Our mixer is Travis Evans. Our

0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:59.240
<v Speaker 2>theme music is by Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan of

0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:03.600
<v Speaker 2>envelope BOARDY seven Am was hosted by Ruby Jones and myself,

0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:05.760
<v Speaker 2>Daniel James. See you next week.