You are on Aboriginal Land
Artist
Marie Elizabeth McMahon
Date1988
Object number00017912
NamePoster
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 652 × 458 mm, 0.05 kg
Display dimensions: 652 × 458 mm
Image: 652 × 458 mm
Display dimensions: 652 × 458 mm
Image: 652 × 458 mm
Copyright© Marie McMahon
ClassificationsPosters and postcards
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionA poster by Marie McMahon titled 'You are on Aboriginal Land' and distributed by Redback Graphix.
This is the fifth edition of the print (originally published in 1981 with only 30 copies) and it was initially issued with the title ‘Pay the Rent. You are on Aboriginal Land'.
The image of a proud Aboriginal woman standing on a beach is based on a scene at Cape Fourcroy on Bathurst Island, or Tikilaru, one of the Tiwi Islands and the figure is Phillipa Pupangamirri. The powerful scene highlights the long and ongoing fight that coastal people have undertaken to secure land and sea rights in areas of Australia. To the Traditional Owners, like the landscape in the poster, the land, water and sky are the same and their traditional and practical significance unchanged.HistoryIn the days before widespread social media, posters were an immediate and impactful means of raising awareness for political, environmental and social issues. Although associated primarily with urban areas, producers such as Redback Graphix also used the medium to reach wider audiences. In association with the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association, the group was able to use Indigenous artists to visually address Indigenous issues to a diverse public.
The poster 'You are on Aboriginal Land' but Marie McMahon is a political poster addressing the issue of Aboriginal land and sea rights. It is a visual statement of the strength and unity of the Aboriginal people in their demand for land rights and justice. Of the work, McMahon mentions having witnessed an encounter between Tikilaru hunting party and potential property developers. For her the scene encapsulated the ongoing and precarious traditional lifestyle of not just the Tikilaru
but of all Indigenous Australians.
Like earlier bark paintings by traditional artists, this graphic medium tells an ongoing story by contemporary urban artists of a people’s strong connection to their country.
SignificanceRedback Graphix, in collaboration with artists such as Marie McMahon, flourished throughout the early 1980s as a visual medium for political, social and environmental themes facing Australia. Indigenous land rights and justice were addressed and the group employed Aboriginal artists and worked within Aboriginal communities to raise awareness for social, political and health concerns.
