According to the study, “The apparent absence of pottery in Australia, as noted by early and more recent European observers… both reflected and was used to support, racist social evolutionary hierarchies characterizing Aboriginal societies as lacking cultural complexity.”
In an area just 90 x 90 cm, archaeologists found 82 pottery shards that are 2,950 to 1,815 years old.
Another day, another unflattering portrait of a public figure, and this time, the Streisand effect is in play too. TIME magazine reports on Australia's wealthiest person, Gina Rinehart, and her attempts to get a painting of her removed from the National Gallery of Australia. The portrait by Vincent Namatjira, an Aboriginal Australian artist, is part of a series in which he uses humor and exaggerated features to portray the rich. “People don’t have to like my paintings, but I hope they take the time to look and think, ‘why has this Aboriginal bloke painted these powerful people? What is he trying to say?’” he said in a statement shared with TIME. The gallery, to which Rinehart is a donor, is not backing down, saying it “welcomes the public having a dialogue on our collection and displays.”
I love this time of year. My neighbours start using their fireplace, and the smell reminds me of visiting my Nanny and Poppy's farm when I was a kid. It was pmuch the only time I felt safe growing up.