The Invincibles
2004
Medium
ochre, synthetic polymer paint and glitter on canvas
Measurements
100.0 × 120.4 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds from the Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists, 2006
© Julie Dowling/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Gallery location
Gallery 4
Ground Level, NGV Australia
About this work
In 1879 Lord Abbot Dom Salvado of New Norcia, a Benedictine abbey that also served as a mission for Aboriginal children, formed a cricket team to ‘civilise’ the Indigenous population. Despite having to walk 130 kilometres south to play matches in Perth, the team remained unbeaten. This work is based on a photograph of the so-called ‘Invincibles’. The two quotes reflect different colonial attitudes: in 1879 Salvado described the players as ‘these poor natives, so hideous to look at,’ while in 1924 anthropologist Daisy Bates claimed they were ‘treated as sportsmen and gentlemen’. At New Norcia, Indigenous children were separated from their families, forced into labour and stripped of their culture, all under the guise of assimilation. With this work, Julie Dowling reclaims the story of the mission’s cricket team as one of Indigenous pride, strength and resilience.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Perth, Western Australia
Accession Number
2006.7
Department
First Nations Australia
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation