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The art of authenticity

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  The Struggle for Authenticity in Art I want to speak today about authenticity . And about what we quietly give up to be accepted. We’re told that contemporary political art values autonomy . That artists are free. That inquiry sits at the centre of practice. But autonomy, in reality, is often something we *perform*— not something we’re allowed to exercise. Freedom is celebrated rhetorically, while legitimacy is granted only when work conforms to approved languages , approved theories , approved causes . Autonomy isn’t denied outright. It’s curated. This system doesn’t fail artists by accident. It functions mechanically. It rewards work that aligns with predetermined frameworks and filters out work that doesn’t speak the sanctioned dialect . Many voices are excluded not because they lack skill or meaning, but because they refuse to translate their experience into institutionally legible language. I’m not saying all excluded work is good. I am saying much of it is never heard. An...
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Australian Mass Media Peddles Systemic Racism

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The Australian newspaper editor-in-chief, Paul Whittaker describes the following cartoons as
"Bill Leak's confronting and insightful cartoons force people to examine the core issues in a way that sometimes reporting and analysis can fail to do".



Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care a non-governmental group for Indigenous children and families, called the cartoon "disgusting, disrespectful, and hurtful", adding: "Those involved in publishing such a clearly racist cartoon should be ashamed and should issue a public apology to all Australians."

Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency chief executive Muriel Bamblett said it depicted Aboriginal people as "not knowing about their children and not having any role in raising their children".
"You feel quite oppressed when these things happen, I think that we everyday have to battle with direct racism and indirect racism," she told 774 ABC Melbourne.

Bill Leak is another media stooge who whips up controversy to sell his product. He is employed by a mass media company that thrives by hyping up racial tensions. This is not a discussion of free voice. This is a discussion of making profit through racial vilification. 

The real discussion concerns a complex interaction of problems which are directly steeped in historic causes:

The obvious problem  = relatively high rates of violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities are influenced by immediate factors such as alcohol and illicit drug use, mental health issues and childhood experience of violence. 

The historic cause = include ‘intergenerational trauma’ resulting from the ongoing and cumulative effects of colonisation, loss of land, language and culture, the erosion of cultural and spiritual identity, forced removal of children, and racism and discrimination.” - Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2014


http://goo.gl/FMfE1I

Bill Leak's opinions are based on personal belief and observations. 
  • His cartoons are not insights.  His statements are not grounded by research.
  • His cartoons do not examine core issues. His cartoons help sell sensationalist for-profit newspapers.






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