To see or not to see

Cross-cultural Wiradjuri woman Karla Dickens unflinchingly interrogates post-contact Aboriginal experiences and the continuing legacies of colonialism and patriarchy. In the niche above the doorway of the Art Gallery she uses materials that nod to the adjacent bronze panels, the rusty metal of Sydney humpy towns – once home to so many First Nations people, including Dickens’ grandmother – and the clear blue-green of the the harbour’s life-sustaining waters.

The imagery derives from hoods Dickens first made from raw calico, and from vintage tea towels of the type her grandmother might have used. In Dickens’ hands, the hoods become potent symbols of the violent silencing and enforced control that are part of the legacy left to Aboriginal women today.

From her home in Bundjalung Country (Lismore, NSW), Dickens works towards healing and change through truth-telling. She reminds us that, under the cover
of these hoods, ‘the hooded are still bearing witness’.