Images from ‘Fire Garden’, a mid-winter arts festival of fire held at Sydenham Green last night.
Performances included: Nik Nak vs Abstract Doll, White Knuckle Fever and Ikara.
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Fire Garden - Sydenham Green
Fire Starter
Fire sculptor, Phil Relf, commences final proceedings at ‘The Fire Garden’, an arts event held tonight at Sydenham Green.
More pics to come.
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Extinction Rebellion Protest Rally, Sydney
Below are images from Friday night’s ‘Extinction Rebellion’ protest march in Sydney.
Around 300 people gathered at Town Hall to hear speakers address the critical issues of climate change and ecological collapse. Under the banner of ‘Extinction Rebellion’ - a loose global affiliation of those concerned about the inaction on the environment - the protestors then marched to Parliament House where they were met by a heavy police presence, including the riot squad. After a short sit in, the marchers moved to Martin Place to voice their opposition to government, corporate, media and police power.
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Girl With Red Flag
A protester at tonight’s Extinction Rebellion rally in Martin Place, Sydney.
More pics to come.
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First Nations Rainbow NAIDOC
Photographs from the First Nations Rainbow NAIDOC event held at the Columbian Hotel on Oxford Street, Darlinghurst last Saturday.
The night was held as part of NAIDOC week celebrations and promoted Aboriginal and LGBTQIA rights, culture and diversity.
The event featured performances by Nana Miss Koori, Nova Gina and Tyra Bankstown. It was organised by Russell Weston and First Nations Rainbow. MCing the evening was Daniel McDonald.
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Block Party, Martin Place
A few images from yesterday’s Block Party at Martin Place, bringing attention to social, political and economic inequality, homelessness, corporate greed and the climate emergency.
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Nyirripi Doors II
More portraits from a recent trip to Nyirripi community, located 500 kms north west of Alice Springs in Warlpiri Lands, central Australia.
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Nyirripi Doors
Portraits from a recent trip to Nyirripi community, located 500 kms north west of Alice Springs in Warlpiri Lands, central Australia.
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Maudie Nampajinpa Morris
Maudie Nampajinpa Morris is one of the last remaining ‘original’ residents of Nyirripi community, a small remote township in the Warlpiri Lands, around 500kms northwest of Alice Springs in central Australia.
She is an elder, grandmother and artist. Her paintings usually depict Maliki Jukurrpa (Dog Dreaming). The Adelaide Crows is her AFL team.
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Nyirripi Landscapes
Some landscape shots from a recent visit to Nyirripi, a small Warlpiri community, around 500kms northwest of Alice Springs in central Australia, where I lived for around 2 years in the mid 1990s.
Just outside the community stands the important sites of Karrku (Karrku Dreaming) and Winnijarru (Dingo Dreaming).
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Dark Emu Over Nyirripi
The night sky over Nyirripi community, Warlpiri Land, 500 kms north west of Alice Springs, central Australia.
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NAIDOC on Arrernte Country
A few quick images of yesterday’s NAIDOC march and Welcome to Country by Arrernte elder Kumalie Kngwarreye Riley in Alice Springs.
Around 800 people marched through the Todd Street Mall to the town square, where celebrations ensued.
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Vigil For Julian Assange's Birthday
Tonight, a candle light vigil was held outside Sydney Town Hall to bring attention to the plight of Julian Assange, who is currently incarcerated in a British prison with the threat of extradition to the United States hanging over his head. There were simultaneous vigils held in different cities around the world, coinciding with Assange’s 48th birthday.
Speakers in Sydney warned that Assange was being used as a scapegoat and as a warning to whistleblowers and journalists wanting to expose abuses of power and corruption at all levels. The AFP raids on the ABC were cited as an example of how the shift towards the stifling of press freedoms was gaining pace. And the media themselves were criticised for their lack of support for Assange.
MC for the night was artist, Hellen Rose. Other speakers included journalist Wendy Bacon, clinical psychologist, Lissa Johnston, long-time family friend of Assange, Rebecca McGlone and Socialist Equity Party representative, Linda Tenenbaum.
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Sudan Revolution Solidarity Rally
Yesterday, June 30th 2019, a rally in solidarity with the currently unfolding Sudanese Revolution took place in Hyde Park, Sydney. Around 700 people attended. It was one of many rallies held simultaneously around the world to bring attention to the military crackdown in Sudan.
Mass protests in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan, erupted last night, with at least 7 killed and hundreds wounded.
The unrest is part of the democratic movement which has gained momentum over the last year and which led to the ousting of long-time President Omar al-Bashir in April. Since then, a military council has assumed power and is resisting calls for structural reform. On June the 3rd, a crackdown saw dozens killed during demonstrations. The democratic opposition is calling for a civilian-led 3 year reform process before elections are held to ensure that meaningful and long-lasting change is achieved.
It has been noted the prominent role that women have played in the revolution in Sudan and this was reflected in yesterday’s rally in Sydney.
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12 Years of the Northern Territory Intervention
Photographs from yesterday’s rally at Hyde Park in Sydney, Gadigal, commemorating 12 years since the Northern Territory Intervention began.
In 2007, the then federal government sent troops into Aboriginal communities on the back of dubious claims about those communities. Today, the NT Intervention endures, repackaged as a race-based set of laws which the government calls, ‘Stronger Futures’.
MC-ing the rally was Muruwari and Budjiti man Bruce Shillingsworth. Other speakers read out letters from Aboriginal community leaders from the Northern Territory, condemning the Intervention.
After speeches, the rally marched from Hyde Park to Belmore Park through the city.
The rally was organised by the Stop The Intervention Collective Sydney (STICS). A statement from STICS is posted below the images.
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A statement from the organisers, STICS:
“An open letter to Ken Wyatt, Minister for Indigenous Australians, states ‘21st June 2019 marks 12 years since the start of the Northern Territory Intervention (now called Stronger Futures). Although Aboriginal people have become conditioned to the detrimental impacts of those racist laws, the trauma is deeply entrenched and continues.’ This is part of a longer statement from three staunch First Nations women from Central Australia, Elaine Kngwarraye Peckham, Barbara R Shaw and Marie Ellis. ‘The voices of people struggling under these racist laws have not been heard, or their pleas have been distorted to impose further repressive laws on them’.
This open letter is a cry for empowerment of Aboriginal communities through local governance. It calls for an end to excessive policing, to increased incarceration rates, to the removal of children from their communities, to pressure to sign over land and to the imposition of compulsory income management and more; all of which are entrenching a sense of helplessness in future generations.
Now a new attack on sovereignty and self-determination has emerged. The NT government has just released proposed fracking maps covering 50% of the territory. The impoverishment caused by the Intervention has made communities vulnerable. Still the grassroots are fighting, holding protests and sending delegations to governments and the corporations coming for their land. In return for fracking they are being offered what should be the basic human rights of all- housing, health, education, cultural support. What a disgrace!
Twelve years ago, Arrente Gurdanji woman Patricia Turner said the government were implementing the Intervention as ‘a trojan horse to resume total control of our lands’.”
Barbara McGrady at Aperture Australia Photo Conference
Some images of Gomeroi photojournalist, Barbara McGrady, at the Aperture Photography Conference at the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour. Also pictured with photographer and keynote speaker, Stephen Dupont.
Shot on a Nikon F2AS, Kodak Tri-X 35mm black and white film.
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Six Quick Chicks
Comedy Cabaret troupe, Six Quick Chicks, performed at the East Sydney Community and Arts Centre on Saturday night to a full house.
Performances from Vashti and Christa Hughes, Celia Curtis, Kira Hu La , Leonie Cohen, Lucy Suze Taylor, Jude Bowler and Claire Anastopoulos.
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15 Years Too Long - TJ Hickey Petition Presented For Parliament
On Thursday, Gail Hickey, mother of T.J. Hickey, and her family and supporters, presented a petition with over 12,000 signatures to Greens MP, David Shoebridge, triggering a formal mention in the NSW Parliament. The petition seeks to reinstate the inquiry into T.J.’s death.
In 2004, T.J. Hickey, then 17, was killed during a police pursuit in Redfern. His family has always maintained a police cover up in the matter.
The signatures were collected over the past months and was supported by the Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA), Sydney.
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Another Roll of 35mm Film
An assortment of shots from a roll of Kodak Tri-X black and white film.
Shot on a Contax IIIa, 50mm f1.5
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Demolition of The Block Continues
The historic Aboriginal Flag mural at The Block has come down as the demolition of the area continues to make way for student housing.
The Block in the inner-Sydney suburb of Redfern, has served as an important site for Aboriginal communities since pre-Colonial times.
During the 1970s, it was the centre of an Aboriginal political and social renaissance that had influence across Australia and which still reverberates today.
In 2015, after much of the Aboriginal community was moved out and as the site was earmarked for redevelopment, an activist campaign led by Aunty Jenny Munro, set up the Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy, occupying the site in a 16-month protest. As a result, 62 apartments within the development were promised as low-cost housing for Aboriginal families. Nevertheless, plans for the redevelopment proceeded.
Today, the last remnants of what was The Block were knocked down as excavation of the site forged ahead.
With the foundations soon to be sunk, construction of the massive 24-story student apartment complex will now begin in earnest.
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