Reconciliation Place Canberra Australia
This artwork incorporates extracts from seminal legal cases on land rights. Terra Nullius (no one’s land) and Terra Aborigium (Aboriginal land) represent the position of native title in Australia before and after the High Court decision in Mabo v Queensland (No.2) (1992). Etched onto glass a map of Meriam Mer (Murray Island – located in the Torres Strait), overlays an image of three plaintiffs in that case: Edward Koiki Mabo, Reverend David Passi and James Rice, and one of their counsel, Bryan Keon-Cohen. Recessed within the artwork is a representation of varying Australian landscapes by Indigenous artist Karen Casey. A thumbprint etched into the stainless steel symbolises the custodial role of Indigenous Australians. On the other side of the artwork are the elements of Country – water, earth and life. Reconcilation Place Canberra ACT Australia