My Country 2006

Editor: So, here we have "My Country" by Sally Gabori, painted in 2006, using acrylic. It's...striking! The colors are so bold, yet there's a softness in the shapes that I find really calming. What do you see in this piece? Curator: This work, like much of Gabori's oeuvre, presents a profound connection to her homeland and cultural identity as a Kaiadilt woman from Bentinck Island. To truly interpret this piece, we must consider the history of forced displacement and assimilation that Indigenous Australians faced. Do you see how the abstraction resists a colonial gaze that sought to map and categorize Indigenous knowledge? Editor: I think so, yes. It's not a literal landscape; it feels more like a memory, or an emotion attached to a place. The vibrant colours--pink, blue, red--they aren't what you'd typically associate with a landscape painting. Curator: Exactly. Consider how the non-representational style and use of color subvert traditional expectations, thereby centering Indigenous perspectives and experiences. It is almost like Gabori is re-writing the narrative and actively rejecting a history of marginalization and reclaiming space on her own terms. This piece becomes an act of resistance and resilience, communicating a sense of place and belonging deeply rooted in cultural memory and identity. What feelings does the painting evoke for you, knowing this context? Editor: Now that I have this context, I see a vibrant, proud declaration of identity. I see it refusing to be defined by colonial standards, and it's making me consider landscape art in a whole new way. Curator: Precisely! And through considering it in that way we move closer to true understanding and dialogue. Editor: This makes me consider art's power as a language for survival, for telling stories when other forms of communication are suppressed. Curator: Absolutely. And hopefully, more than stories of survival; resistance, too.