BRAD DARKSON

Artist Statement

Treaty

2023

 

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Treaty (2023) responds to grand gestures from the colonial Australian GovernmentGovernment of Australia to all First Nations, and delineates the time between three historic political moments: from 

1. the promise of a Treaty in 1988 by then Australian Prime Ministerwhen Bob Hawke when he was presented with the Barunga Statement; 

2. the release of Yothu Yindi's seminal music video 'Treaty' in 1991 as a response to the broken promises made by Government; and 

3. the 2023 election promise made by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to fulfil the request for ‘Voice, Treaty and Truth’ from the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’. 

 

 

 

Treaty has a 10 minute countdown timer between cycles. At the beginning of the work the music video for Yothu Yindi’s ‘Treaty’ starts playing on the far left screen and then starts on each consecutive screen with a 2 second delay.

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I would like to acknowledge and thank Yothu Yindi, who has granted permission for their music video to be used in this artwork.

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