Heroes of Colonial Encounters - Bidgee Bidgee

Artist Helen S Tiernan (born 1952)

Date2017

Object number00055140

NamePainting

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 305 × 305 × 40 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

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DescriptionA painting of Bidgee Bidgee by Helen S Tiernan part of a series of portraits that make up 'Heroes of Colonial Encounters'. Bidgee Bidgee was the youngest son of Maugoran and related to Bennelong who had married Bidgee Bidgee's sister Boorong later in life. In 1816 Governor Macquarie notes that Bidgee Bidgee was the 'Chief of the Kissing Point Tribe' which was known as Walumetta and part of Wallamattagal territory where he lived. The painting is based on a portrait by M Thompson 'Principal Acting Surgeon in the Colony'. HistoryThis painting is part of a series of portraits that make up 'Heroes of Colonial Encounters'. Helen Tiernan explores the singular European view of colonial history and the way Indigenous peoples are depicted as the 'primitive' or 'other'. The portraits she paints of Bennelong, Bungaree, Colby, Bidgee Bidgee, Ballodere and Tommy sees them equal to their European contemporaries such as Cook, Joseph Banks, William Bligh, Arthur Philip and Matthew Flinders. All portraits are to hang together on the same wall, equally ornate, equal in style and equal in history. Bidgee-bidgee or Bedgi-bedgi, said to mean 'river flat', was a Burramattagal man of the Dharug language group. He was the son of Maugoran and brother-in-law to Bennelong. Bidgee-Bidgee had a reputation for speaking very good English and mimicking the actions of the British. He was an important elder in the Sydney region and was engaged as a tracker by Governor Macquarie who later 'appointed' him ‘Chief of the Kissing Point tribe’. SignificanceThis painting of Mickie by Helen Tiernan provides a dual perspective of histories and first encounters in Australia and through the Pacific. Most post-colonial art takes its subject from earlier colonial times, but this doesn’t mean their interests are purely historical. To the contrary, the point of post-colonialism is to show how many unresolved issues from colonial history are embedded in the present.