Disinformation, algorithms, big data, care work, climate change, and cultural knowledge can all be invisible. This exhibition brings them to the light.
For the first time in its 99 year-history, the Archibald Prize has been won by an Indigenous painter. The Wynne and Sulman Prize winners also signal a time of change.
Despite case after case of systemic racism against Indigenous people, the AFL has not been able to rid itself of a problem that has caused so much grief to so many.
Barracking has been a colourful and controversial part of Australian Rules football since the game’s inception. Now, the AFL is trying to maintain order – and fans are irate.
Between the 1830s and the 1850s, hundreds of Indigenous warriors and dozens of British settlers were killed across south-east Australia. Echoes of that conflict recur in Aussie rules.
For Indigenous people, refusal is a powerful act of sovereignty. In Grand Final week, it’s timely to reflect on Adam Goodes’ refusal to accept racism in football or an official send off when he retired - and the repercussions of his stance, a year on.
Sport can be a driver for change; it can make a difference in people’s lives and unify communities, particularly around national successes. But it can also create tensions and cause conflict.
Until we see a marked change in the stories that are told, together with a shift from inclusion to social justice, the national story of Australian sport will remain very, very white.
There are no examples of evidence being put forward by race theorists that a race other than the one they belong to is superior. That’s worth bearing in mind when it comes to ‘understanding’ racists.
Research Fellow, Institute for Health & Sport, member of the Community, Identity and Displacement Research Network, and Co-convenor of the Olympic Research Network, Victoria University
Honorary (Senior Fellow) School of Culture and Communication University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, The University of Melbourne