Brisbane Powerhouse presents Blak: the Art of Language
In the 60’s our great poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal declared Black advance, not white ascendance (Aboriginal Charter of Rights, 1962); in the 70’s Basically Black, the first all-Aboriginal television show in Australia,aired on ABC Television. During the 80’s and early 90’s, it was visual artists like the late Michael Riley, Destiny Deacon and Tracy Moffat who reasserted the term 'blak' as a neologism in the Australian arts context. But what is the Australian context? And what does 'Blak' mean now?
Blak considers how Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists assert their Blackness through their art in the 21st Century. Discussions ranging from the civil rights movement of Black Power - which referenced skin colour and racism, not Indigeneity - to The Black Theatre, the politics of skin colour, Aboriginality/Indigeneity, colonisation and (de)construction of the ‘Other’ are on the table. Join Rachael Maza, Vernon Ah Kee, Jason De Santis and Lorna Munro for 60 minutes of Blackness that will reframe your terms of reference.
Image: National Black Theatre Basically Black (1973)
Meet the artist
Moderator: Wesley Enoch, Artistic Director, Queensland Theatre Company
Panellists:
- Rachael Maza, ILBIJERRI Theatre Company
- Vernon Ah Kee, Visual Artist and Member of Proppa Now
- Jason De Santis, Playwright, Wulamanayuwi and the Seven Pamanui
- Lorna Munro, Multidisciplinary Artist, Poet and Activist
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