The most prominent landmark in the centre of the Central Australian town of Alice Springs is Anzac Hill. It’s where tourists go to catch the sunset over the West MacDonnell Ranges, and a stunning vista of the Alice Springs township.
It’s also where Australians go to mourn their dead every Anzac Day.
Renowned artist Rod Moss sent New Matilda this artwork to publish with an alternative take on the hill, after listening to NM editor Chris Graham on Late Night Live during the week, discussing with Antony Funnell the death of Elijah Doughty and the ongoing sense of grief and loss Aboriginal people feel.
The painting speaks a thousand words, obviously, and at the same time pretty neatly encapsulates the national response to another Aboriginal life cut tragically short.
If you want further reading, here are the links to Graham’s coverage of the death of Elijah; The Killing Fields: How We Failed Elijah Doughty And Countless Others, and White Man’s Manslaughter. Black Man’s Murder. White Man’s Riot. Black Man’s Uprising.
You can also read the most recent essay from Dr Lissa Johnson (published this afternoon), Best Intentions: How We Slaughter The Aboriginal Race. This piece – Kalgoorlie Uprising: Black Man’s Victim. White Man’s Culprit, And The Twisted Psychology Of Racially Motivated Crime and Punishment – is an earlier essay from Dr Johnson.
If you’re in Brisbane and want to catch the latest Moss Exhibition, it’s at the Fireworks Gallery in Newstead, from August 25 to September 30. Details are here.
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