My Father's Country 2007

Sally Gabori, an Indigenous Australian artist, made "My Father's Country" with paint on canvas. This painting embodies Gabori’s connection to her ancestral homeland, a story rooted in the displacement and institutionalization of Aboriginal people. Gabori's use of vibrant colors and abstract forms, seemingly simple, belies a deep cultural meaning. She began painting late in life as part of an art center initiative on Mornington Island in Queensland. These centers emerged as spaces for Indigenous artists to express their identity and cultural heritage, but also as a form of economic and social empowerment. Consider how the bold colors and shapes might map to specific places or stories related to her father’s country. How does the act of painting serve as a form of cultural preservation and resistance against the backdrop of historical dispossession? To understand this work better, we need to examine the history of government policies towards Aboriginal communities and the role of art institutions in promoting Indigenous art. By doing so, we can understand how the artist engaged with the complex social structures of her time.