As I may have mentioned once or twice before, Australia used to have a big shortage of Aboriginals in esoteric jobs like astrophysicist or conceptual artist. But once a judge ruled in the Bolt case that nobody is allowed to publicly question assertions of aboriginalness, that problem has been rapidly disappearing. For instance, from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:
Indigenous artist seeking body of Australian of British descent for ‘sacrifice to past sins’
By Adam Holmes and Ellen CoulterA Tasmanian Aboriginal artist says he has already received responses to his advertisement seeking an Australian of British descent to donate their future dead body for an art installation.
Key points:
The artist has advertised in a Melbourne newspaper for someone willing to “donate their future deceased body to an art installation”
Nathan Maynard says the artwork will “speak to sacrifice for past sins perpetrated against the palawa [Aboriginal inhabitants of Tasmania]”
Interestingly, Tasmanian Aboriginal playwright/artist Nathan Maynard has eyes the color of a Bic pen:
An ethics specialist has described the project as having a “fresh approach”
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images of people who have died.
Nathan Maynard’s artwork, Relict Act, will be part of the Hobart Current arts festival, where he wants the public to draw comparisons between the historic theft of Aboriginal remains and artefacts, and the voluntary donation of white Australian remains.
…Maynard would not say exactly what the artwork would look like, what form it would take, or whether the chosen person would need to die before or after the exhibit in November.
Maybe a white person could die during the exhibit as a human sacrifice?
For example, granted, Nathan Maynard is, beyond legal doubt, a Tasmanian Aborigine, but if he were to sacrifice himself during his exhibition, would any onlookers notice that he wasn’t white?
Just something to think about, Nate.
…The Hobart Current arts festival is supported by the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) and the City of Hobart council.
…In 2021, TMAG apologised to Tasmania’s Aboriginal people for the removal of Aboriginal remains for collection and trade, as well as for its past resistance to the repatriation of remains. Such practice was common in Tasmania.
The apology also accepted “beyond dispute” that TMAG had “disrespected the remains” of Indigenous woman Truganini, including public displays and interpretations of her remains, and disregarded her wishes to be buried in the D’Entrecastreaux [sic] Channel.
You’ll notice the close family resemblance between Truganini and Maynard.
