Sacred nation, scared nation, indoctrination
2003
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
(a-c) 183.0 × 640.0 cm (overall)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented through the NGV Foundation by Juliette, Danielle and Georgina Jerums, Member, 2003
© Gordon Hookey/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Waanyi artist Gordon Hookey was born in Cloncurry, Queensland in 1961. Hookey created this bold triptych with the punch of a political cartoon. Sacred nation, scared nation, indoctrination was sparked by former US president George W. Bush’s election speech condemning the world to resource exploitation – symbolised in Hookey’s painting by an upside-down Earth. Bush appears ‘fat’ from the overuse of resources, sealing the planet’s fate. The first panel critiques environmental destruction and Indigenous land denial, captured in ‘terraism’ – a fusion of the words ‘terrorism’ and ‘terra’ (earth/land). Hookey subverts English to reclaim expression, countering the colonial erasure of his own language.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria
Accession Number
2003.481.a-c
Department
First Nations Australia
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Physical description
Triptych