Aborigine Art

Scar - A Stolen Vision

You'll find some really interesting aborigine art next to the Melbourne Aquarium.

It's called Scar - A Stolen Vision.

It was created by eight indigenous artists and is intended as a symbolic representation of the scars of all Indigenous people and the ongoing process of healing.

The 30 poles represent the Victorian landscape. Each pole represents a different aspect of aboriginal life, history or mythology.

For example one pole shows some traditional symmetrical line pattering of the Gunnai shields with another pole having large shields on either side........

........The tops of these two poles are symbolic of boxes, square buildings, institutions and museums etc........

.........The chains attached to these symbols represent the period when aboriginal cultural material began to be collected by various institutions, missionaries and early farmers.

The final pole is the "Stolen Vision"........

.........Not a great deal of traditional knowledge has survived the impact of the "invasion" of Australia..........

........Being denied this knowledge is a form of cultural genocide according to the criteria of the United Nations.

Warning signs like "not to enter", or the possibility of facing prosecution from the landowner were common in Australia........

........Aboriginal land was taken forcibly by the British who used the bible and the gun to civilize the "heathen savages".........

.........Hence the presence of the bible and the gun hanging from the top of this pole leaving a scarred vision.

It's certainly a stirring piece of artwork. Unfortunately there's nothing explaining the meaning of the poles at the site......

.......But now you've read this you'll be looking at the poles a lot more carefully than I did before I read up about them recently.

Check out the map below to find where it is.

View Aboriginal artwork titled Scar - A Stolen Vision in a larger map

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