A memorial to Aboriginal freedom fighters, Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner now stands facing some gates from the old Melbourne Gaol. The corner of Bowen and Franklin Street was the site of their execution and a commemoration held each year on January 20, the date of their execution in 1842.
Brook Andrews and Trent Walters, Standing by Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner, 2016
Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner engaged in an eight week resistance to English occupation, burning farm houses that ended in November 1841. Tried and hung for the murder of two whalers that they shot at Western Port.
I’m not sure about the memorial while there does need to be public recognition of the Aboriginal resistance I’m not sure that something that looks like a combination between a swing set and a gallows is the best way to do it.
Designed by established Australian artist, Brook Andrews and his production and installation manager, Trent Walters. Although Andrews’s art often explores post-colonial issues this memorial doesn’t much resemble his gallery work, there are none of the patterns, for example.
A set of six newspaper boxes provide a design to contain the didactic elements that explaining the reason for the memorial. It feels odd because while newspaper boxes are a common feature in North America are not commonly seen in Melbourne. The six colours of the boxes are another esoteric part; I am sure that there is an explanation but it is not easily interpretable.Brook Andrews and Trent Walters, Standing by Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner, 2016
Andrews & Walters, Standing by Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner, 2016
I am not sure in general about the purpose of memorials, earlier this year I wrote a post questioning the need for another memorial.
Maybe there needs to be some public desecrations of some of the genocidal invaders to balance this out. Unofficial acts do occur like pouring red paint on a bust of Governor Lachlan Macquarie in McQuade Park, Sydney the early hours of Monday 13 February 2017. “Governor Macquarie was the fifth Governor of New South Wales and has a historical significance to the region,” Chief Inspector Sims said. “This memorial is a tribute to his leading role and influence between 1810 and 1821. It is even stranger to have the NSW police making an effort to defend his reputation.
In 1991 the Aboriginal activists Gary Foley and Robbie Thorpe tried John Batman in effigy, using the statue of Batman Melbourne. The names of his crime was hung around his neck: theft, trespass, rape, and genocide. Currently there is discussion about getting rid of the name of the evil Batman from parks, trains stations and other places but maybe his statue should be kept around to be regularly tried in effigy.
Black Mark 