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From Dreamtime to Sorrytime - A Triptych
From Dreamtime to Sorrytime
by Linda Ashton
a triptych gifted from the School of Education to the School of Indigenous Studies
James Cook University 13.2.08
The far left panel represents the universe, the dawn of time and the dreamtime when Aboriginal people lived on and with Gondwanaland. The curving horizontal lines, signifying the passage of time, connect this panel with the middle and right panels. Each has an earthy ochre foreground and dark sky. On each panel the small circles represent the people and the children.
This land has some very old trees. Many were seedlings when the first Europeans settled. The middle panel shows a large tree over 200 years old. She has been a silent witness to the many changes which the Aboriginal people have had to endure. Within the gnarly trunk are lines of turmoil between black and white. The troubled circles in and around the branches are the children, stolen and separated from their family roots.
The third panel begins with clumsy blobs and entangled lines. These symbolize the discrimination, procrastination and political propaganda of previous federal governments who refused to acknowledge the damage inflicted on generations of original inhabitants. There is a large single tear drop signifying the grief and cultural fracturing through Aboriginal dispossession. Significantly, there is a gold starfish form which marks the long awaited day in parliament when the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd made a formal apology for the injustices of previous policies. The undulating lines of time passing, continue beyond the edge of the panel. They are echoed above by lines of empathy and equity, with various paths and ways to move forward in a spirit of postcolonial cooperation, where Aboriginal Australians are empowered to determine their own futures.