Robert Campbell Jnr

The representation of Aboriginal people by Aboriginal artists is a relatively modern development in Australian art history.   In this artwork Robert Campbell Jnr. uses a bold sense of colour and his original graphic style of outlining figures and shapes with a linear dot pattern incorporates an acknowledgement of the influence of traditional aboriginal art and culture.

In 1965 students from Sydney University emulated the civil rights campaigns that occurred in the United States at the time and toured regional NSW to bring to the publics attention the existence of apartheid like conditions where Aboriginal people were being treated as second class citizens. Robert Campbell Jnr. was just 21 when In February 1965 the Freedom rides visited his community at the Burnt Bridge reserve near Kempsey.

A prominent member of this group was Dr. Charles Perkins - the first Aboriginal graduate of an Australian University, he is recognised as a spokesperson for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s land rights.  This work shows people of all colours cheering Dr Perkins on at a Land Rights rally these were common in 1986 when Australia was coming to terms with its history of dispossession in the lead up to the national Bicentenary.  The picture shows Dr Perkins microphone in hand

This artwork was acquired by the university at the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative in Chippendale and in many ways is a unique example of an intersection between a community activist, an Aboriginal artist and an Aboriginal owned cultural institution that defined a decade in Australian history when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s voice was finally being heard by the wider Australian community.