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Around the world artists have be en conce rned wit h Within a radius of 800m the dest ruction is co mplete . and Walle r. He docume nted the Austr alian New Gui nea nuclear iss ues, from the first application of atomic bomb s Over 70,000 die instantl y. campaign and its afte rmath . at Hi roshima and Nagasaki, to at omic testing, uraniu m A person stan ds lost amongst the ruins of a house . In 1946 he was se nt to Japan whe re he witnes sed mining, nuc lear waste tra nspo rt and storage, and We don’t see the chi ld’s exp ression, but it can only be the effects of the ato mic bomb. He doc umented the va st scenarios of nuclear Armageddon. The Australian artisti c one of shock and suffering. A charred tree towers ov er dest ruction from a distant vi ewpoint, spa ring the viewe r response to Bri tish atomic te sting in the 195 0s is les s the rubble. Natu re has withe red in the on slaught of hea t the ho rri fic deta ils. His sketch Rebuilding Hiroshim a well-know n, as is the sto ry of the tests . and shock waves. Simply titled Hi roshima , Albe rt Tucker’ s shows civil ians clearing away the rubble. Li fe ha s Cloaked in se crec y, the British atomic testing progra m small wate rcolour is quiet and conte mplative. Pa inte d retu rned to the ci ty, in the new age: Li fe after the bom b. and its consequenc es remained out of p ublic sight unt il in 1947 in Hi roshima, the Melbou rne mode rnist painte r Albe rt Tucker arrived in Jap an with the Aust ralian Army the late 197 0s. A g ene ration la ter, it seems much of tha t presents a lone survivo r, a hibakusha in Japanese . as an art co rrespondent in 1947, a year af ter Lt Rowed . knowledge has been fo rgotten. A youn ger generati on of He travelled on suggestion and in the comp any of ns have practi cally no idea atom bombs we re A YOUNG ER GEN ERATION OF AUST RALIA NS HA S American po et Ha rry Roskolen ko, who he met th roug h exploded in their count ry, wh y, and what the lo ng-te rm PR ACTICA LLY NO ID EA TH AT ATOM BOMBS WER E and the Ang ry Penguins at Heide, a 15-a cre legacies are. DEVE LOPED AND EX PLODED IN TH EIR CO UNTR Y. prope rty, in Melbou rne. John and Su nday Reed nu rtu red Black Mist Bu rnt Count ry is a su rvey exhibi tion curate d a ci rcle of like-m inded mode rnist artists, writers and to fo rm an ove rview of Austral ian artists’ creations an d In stark cont rast to Albe rt Tucker’s work, the pal e intellect uals, which in cluded John Pe rceval, Joy Hest er considera tions, with fo cus on the Brit ish atomic tes ts in monoch rome colou rwash paintin gs by Reg Rowed featu re and Sidney No lan, and of whi ch Tucker was a cen tra l Australia. Artworks have kindly been made available by a vast, devas tated and dese rted citysca pe: the skele ton fi gu re. Tucker and Rosk olenko fl ew in a mili tary DC-3 . private and public lender s, and by the artists themsel ves . st ructu re of the dome of the city’s Exh ibition Hall and th e Tucker had nev er been in a plane befo re. Among th e This essay ex plo res these wor ks, their creators and th eir blasted Aioi Bridge overs hadowed by a th unde rous sk y. various sto ps was Mo rotai in the Philippines, whic h relation to each othe r. The dome, or its remains, have be come an iconic imag e provided a sober ing experien ce and a preparati on fo r Hea rteningl y, mo re than 70 years after Hi roshima , for the insta nt wipe-out of Hiroshima. The ruin, as we wil l scenes to com e. On Okinawa beach Tucker walk ed int o the issues and conce rns arising from the nucle ar see late r, appears time and time again in other artworks , a literal min efield, a ha rrowing exp erience as he la ter Pandora’s Box featu re st rongly among con tempora ry has been kept. Now as the Hi roshima Peace Memoria l admitted. The scale of dest ruction he en counte red in artists; be cause as Japan ese photogra pher Hi rom i (Genbaku Do mu), it se rves as a wa rning and cons tan t Japan left a de ep imp ression on him. Tsuchida points out, “we can nev er pretend that wh at reminder to hum ankind of the te rror of one bom b. Most Austra lian male artists se rved in the arme d happened in Hiroshima has noth ing to do with us.” 1 Lieutenant Reginald Row ed came to Japan at the ag e fo rces, unless they we re rejected for health reason s Regi nald Ro wed of 30, as an of ficial artist for the Milita ry Histo ry Sec tio n like Drysdale was, but only few experienced activ e (Aus trali a, b.19 16, d. 1990) Dawn of a new age – art of the Austral ian modernists of the Austra lian War Memorial. He was a trained artis t se rvice. Affected by the events of WWII, either as act ive Hi roshi ma 1946 6 August 1945. A new aeon dawns on humanity: nuclea r and had studi ed painting and drawing at Mel bou rne pa rticipants or as witnesses, the Heide artists create d wate rcolour on pap er age. At 8.15am local time the Enola Gay , a Uni ted State s Technical Col lege from 1934 to 1938 under John Row ell a number of wor ks dec rying the tr agedy and lame ntin g 48 x 63 cm © Aust ralian War Mem orial B52 bombe r, drops ‘Little Bo y’, the first bomb , and Napier Walle r. In 1940 he enlisted in the army, the human con dition. , John Pe rceval , AWM2 6374 onto the unsu specting Jap anese city of Hiroshima . but became a war artist on the urging of his siste r Albe rt Tucker and “we re all af flic ted by th e

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Sidn ey Nola n Albe rt Tucke r (Aus trali a; Engl and, b.1917 , (Aus trali a, b.19 14, d. 1999) d.19 92) Hi roshi ma 1947 Cent ral Des ert: At omic Tes t wate rcolour on pap er 1952 –57 26 x 35 cm oil and enam el on ha rdbo ard Aust ralian War Memo rial 121.7 x 91.1 cm © The Estate of Barb ara Coll ection Museum of Ol d Tucke r and New Art (MONA ), Hob art Cou rtesy of Sot heby’ s © The Trust / Aust ralia Brid geman Images

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times, the th reat and enc roachment of war”, wrot e “He makes us fe el the opp ressive fasci nation of thes e Patrick McC aughe y.2 “Out of th at they produced an art stark unpeo pled immensi ties of windwo rn rock an d that was new to Australian consciousne ss, which bot h bitter soil. And th rough them all runs the cent ral them e accepted and railed again st the tragic element in huma n of grinding heat.” Central Dese rt: Atomic Test is no existence .” Danila Vassilie ff, Noel Coun ihan, Stell ar exception. But unlike the rest of the pa intings in th e Dilger and Ja mes Cant we re other artists to foc us on series, in th is an ominous mush room cloud rises int o the human cost of (nuclear) war. a blue sky filled with toxic fall-out . The nuclear age, and British atomic testi ng in Austral ia The paintin g, a bold statem ent by an othe rwis e in the 1950s in particula r, we re ra rely add resse d political ly detached artist, ironically was not seen by di rectly in art. In pa rt, the reason might be found in th e the public un til 2001 when it appea red in an exhi bitio n sec recy su rrounding the at omic trials progr am and in Sidney Nola n: Landscapes and Legends at Goul d the general ly positive at titude towa rds the tests am ong Galleries in Melbou rne. 5 An imp ressed Geo ffrey Smit h the Austral ian public. The Australian media responde d commented: “Central Aus tralia reflec ts an image of indeed enth usiastical ly to news of the tests. Polls in the dis ruption, an in tense explos ion on the hori zon tha t mid-1950s showed broad major ity suppo rt hoping fo r reverberates throughout the compositio n.” The mush roo m Australia ’s ascent into the nuclear age and for a futu re cloud and mou ntain ranges appear to be lat er addition s as a ‘middle po wer’ . that Nolan im posed on a previously pai nted landsca pe. Only after the United States dropped the first hyd roge n The new paint ing was “his im mediate response to th e bomb at in Ma rch 1954 did pub lic suppo rt news covera ge of the nuclear testing in the remot e slowly wane. Strong public protest evolv ed in the UK ‘uninhabi ted’ Austral ian landscap e, a presumption of and resulted in the Campaign for Nuclear Disa rmamen t the Austral ian Gove rnment and Br itish author ities, ” Sidn ey Nola n (CND) in 1957. Living in Lon don at the time, Sidney Nola n he conclude d.6 (Aus trali a; Engl and, b.1917 , became ala rmed, and ret rospec tively added a mush roo m Additiona lly, a smaller dra wing of Nolan’s Moonbo y d.19 92) Unti tled (M oonboy an d cloud, as a refe rence to the British atomic tests in series also depicts a mush room cloud. In his untitle d atom blast) 1974 Australia, to a painting in his seminal Ce ntral Dese rt 1974 drawing (Moonboy and atom blast) a si mpli fied , wate r-bas ed fabr ic dy e series . dark, round shape dominates the cent re of the draw ing . on ha rdboa rd Arthur Bo yd Nolan had pai nted the series after extens ive travels in Two figu res on horses, possibly Bur ke and Wills take n 25.5 x 30.5 cm (Aus trali a, b.19 20, d. 1999) Art Galle ry of outback Aus tralia, and 47 paintings we re shown to grea t Jonah on the Shoal have n from his iconic pa inting of the do omed explo rers, fly New So uth Wales acclaim at Da vid Jones Gall ery in Ma rch 1950, whic h – Outs ide the City ac ross the face of it. Nolan paint ed the first ‘m oonboy ’ Gift of the artist 19 85 Jane Clarke described as “o ne of the most im portan t 1976 in 1939-40, titled boy and the moon and retu rned to Phot o: AGNS W oil on canva s events in the histo ry of Austra lian paintin g”. 3 At the time , the moon-boy motif th roughout his ca ree r. The title of © The Sidney Nolan Trust / 158 x 127 cm Brid geman Images James Glees on wrote admiring ly about Nolan ’s Centra l Bund anon Trust Col lecti on this drawing lends the work an additional meaning an d 24.1 985 Dese rt paintings in The Sun newsp ape r.4 He co mmented : © Bund anon Trust dimension .

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Arth ur Boyd, another Aus trali an m odernist painter, Multiple pl umes of smoke ri se as two human survivor s speci fically the Briti sh atomic tests in Australia of th e in clu ded the mushroom cloud in se ver al wor ks. It appe ars drag themse lves from an area of intense whi te light whil e 1950s we re ra re. Australia of the 1950s was closel y as a tiny and dista nt p henom enon on the horiz on in two another mus hroom cloud grows into the blue sk y. Th e aligned to the British moth er count ry. Robe rt Menzie s pa int ings of the Sho alh aven seri es from the late 19 70s, pilot appea rs in a phase shi ft, which gives the painting a a conse rvative and ang lophile Prime Ministe r, single- as a subt le a nd gen eral rem inder of t he h orrors of war su rreal imp ression. It’s as if the shockw ave has becom e handedly al lowed the Brit ish to test ato mic devices fo r and total d est ructi on. visible. The foreg round is bu rned with sha dows of men , weapons dev elopment in Au stralia. Whi le the Britis h Boyd was cons cripted into the army in 1941 an d women and chi ldren, reminiscent of Picasso’s Gue rnica . worked feve rishly to join the nuclear ‘m egaton club’ of later became a paci fist. He pa rticipated in protes t A human skull, a widely used symbol in art for mo rtalit y the US and USSR, a worldwide protest move ment agains t ma rches to Alde rmaston, the nuclear resea rch facility in and death, la ys aside, disc arded, replaced pe rhaps by atomic weap ons slowly fo rmed. England, and in exhibitio ns commemora ting Hi roshima , the powe rful dark mat ter, uranium, the pilot now hold s and protesting against the Vietn am War. He said ab out visibly in aw e. Hope and fear – going nuclear in the 1970s and 80s himself: “F or a long time I was obsessed by wa r, all thos e Inspi red by anti-Vietn am War protests, and feminis t dark though ts about the ind ividual sla ughter in the Fi rst FOR A LONG TIME I WAS OB SESSED BY WAR , AL L and land righ ts movements, in the late 196 0s and earl y World War, people wi th their legs ha cked off and th roat s THOSE DARK TH OUGHTS ABOUT THE IN DIVID UAL 1970s a new gen eration of artists voiced its conce rns cut. Then war got mo re mechanic al and mo re scienti fic SLAU GHTER IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR , PEO PLE and politic al oppositio n. In several screen printin g and mo re awful.” 7 WITH THEIR LEGS HACKED OFF AND TH RO ATS CUT. workshops across the count ry students and artist s Ha rold F reder ick Wea ver Hawki ns ( 1893– 197 7) was produced protest pos ters conce rned with a variety of ed uca ted at Camberwe ll S cho ol of A rts and Cra fts but Warfa re became a recu rrent theme to whi ch Hawkin s topics: Pam Debenham, Toni Robe rtson, Dia nna Wells , WWI put an end to his pla ns to be come an art t eache r. retu rned in a numb er of murals. He brought to Au strali a Bob Clutter buck, Chips Ma ckinolt y, Colin Russe ll an d He was ser iou sly wo und ed in t he B att le of the So mme an educated and sophistic ated artistic pract ice . Wendy Black among these . at Gom mecou rt in 19 16 a nd a lmo st lost his ri ght arm. “Atomic Pow er exposes war as the conseque nce of At the time, the general pe rception of a nuclear futu re De spi te many operat ions he nev er reg ained full move ment irrational ity and man’s intolerance. Wi th its conf rontin g was positiv e. Toni Robe rtson reflects on this in a seri es Weaver Hawk ins and had to ret rain hims elf to p aint with his le ft h and. ‘end-of-t he-world’ sy mbols it makes for inte resting stud y of poster pri nts titled Roy al Nuclear Sh ow – an exe rcis e (UK; Austra lia , After exten sive travels with his wife and three child ren against the backg round of Aust ralian su rrealist pain tin g for the resensitised consumer , whi ch was exhibit ed at b.18 93, d.1 977) th rough Eu rope and the Paci fic, he migrated from th e in the 1940s. It sha res with those works st rong an d the Experim ental Art Foundation in 1981. The po ste r Atom ic Power 1947 UK to Austral ia in 1935, whe re he exhibi ted widel y. resonant imag ery and a sense of disi ntegration and se rves as a propaganda tool, ‘selli ng’ the nucle ar oil on hardboard 61 x 78 .5 cm “H awk ins’s amb itious, som etimes mu ral-s ize d, mod erni st dislocati on. Yet Weaver was not out of sympa thy wit h mythology as prog ress, well-bei ng and social harmon y. Art Galle ry of allegories of morality for an age of atomic wa rfa re and the spirit of Australian Su rrealism. He beli eved tha t But Robe rtson ques tions the posi tive message: Nuclea r New So uth Wales global over-population had been so uncommon in Australia su rrealism cou ld too quickly deteriorate into an escapi st Power – What wi ll it be like ? (n o.6) depicti ng a world of Phot o: Brento n wh en p ainted that mo st of his fellow artists w ere reverie,” com mented Eileen Channin. 9 nuclear mil itarisation (no.3); life is lived among fa ll-ou t McGe achie /AGNS W © Esta te of em barra ssed by his a rt,” Dani el T homas rem ark ed.8 While the tra uma of both wor ld wars preoccupi ed shelters in the shadow of a Ha rrisbu rg theme-park (n o.4) ; HF Weaver Hawki ns 10 In his 1947 pa inting Atomic Pow er a f ighter p ilot s tan ds a number of artists, di rect refe renc es to the th reat s and in a police state (no.5) . But, “potenti al danger s 92.1 976 lo st a midst a complex field of rui ns c ast ing a long shadow. of the atomic age, the loomi ng arms race and mo re and contrad ictions of the nuclear power indust ry are

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neutralis ed (naturali sed) by the plea sures of consump tio n Tests . Debenh am (b.1955) produced a var iety of sc ree n Satu rday and the exi stence of fall -out shelters at hig h and the slick ness of presentation” .11 prints, amo ng these the ico nic No Nukes in the Paci fic, schools and public buildi ngs we re grim reminders of With Dadd y, What did YOU do in the Nuclear War (1977), which featu res mush rooms clouds and palm trees on a imminent da nge r. This zeitg eist was also reflected in a c oll abora tion of Rob ertson with Chips Mackin olt y, Hawaiian- style shi rt and refers to the cont inued Frenc h literatu re, film and music of the era, as Mick Broderic k the artists re-app ropria ted a WWI rec ruitment po ste r atomic tests in the Paci fic at Mu ruroa which fuelled fear s illustrat es in another pa rt of this book. From Nena’ s by British bo ok designer and illustrator Savile Lumle y of radioact ive fallout in Australia. 99 Red Balloo ns to Sting’s Russians , and in Australi a (1876–196 9). Befo re 1916 the UK had no conscriptio n Midnight Oi l’s 1982 album 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and only a small standing army. At the onset of WWI th e PROTE STS AND DEMO NSTR ATION S many we re conce rned with nucle ar (dis)a rmament . gove rnment found itself conf ronted with the eno rmou s WERE RAM PANT IN THE 1980S; EASTE R The arms race was in full swing, and Australians had task of gathe ring la rge numbers of abl e-bodied men . SUN DA Y MA RCHES ATTR ACTED HUNDR EDS played their part in it – the tr ials programs in Au strali a Th rough sta ged ev ent s, leaf lets a nd p osters li ke L uml ey’s, OF TH OUSAN DS ACROSS EU ROPE. had led di rectly to the production of the British nu clea r considera ble social press ure was brought on men to weapons Blue Danube and Red Bea rd. Austra lians , enlist. As su ggested in Lum ley’s origi nal poste r, in th e While these works document the politic al climate of for the most pa rt, we re either un awa re or oblivio us to futu re child ren would hold their fathers to account fo r the 1980s, the dep ressing anx iety of those ye ars is this realit y. Singer-s ongwriter Pa ul Kelly (b.19 55) wrot e the se rvice they perfo rmed for their count ry. ha rdly reflec ted. NATO strategies of ‘Mutually Ag reed in his 2010 bio graphy that he had never hea rd about th e Abov e: In this ve rsi on Rob erts on and Mackino lty amend the Dest ruction’ (M AD), ‘Nuclear Dete rrence’ and ‘Flexibl e tests until the Royal Commi ssion into the British Atom ic Savi le Luml ey 13 or igi nal pr int. Sitt ing in an armc hai r, t he f ath er f aces Response’ as preventers of WW III hung like Da mocles ’ Tests was laun ched in 1984. (UK, b.1876, d.19 60) the viewer with a p ens ive lo ok a cross his f ace. H is s on proverbial swo rd above of the he ads of humanki nd. A s eri es of in vesti gat ive me dia arti cle s, as w ell as Dadd y, What did YOU do in pl ayi ng with toy sol die rs is d epicted with a h ump on h is I was in high-s chool in ‘West-Ge rmany’ when mid-rang e a 1 981 tel evi sion d ocu mentary titled Backs to the the Great War? c. 1914– 1915 Colo ur lith ograph on pap er ba ck a nd a stu nted r ight arm. His sis ter fe atu res a third Pershing II missiles we re stationed in Mutlangen, Neu- Bl ast directed by Harry B ardwel l, t rigge red t he R oyal 76.3 x 51 cm le g. S he s its on h er f ather ’s k nees a nd p oints to a pa ge Ulm and Necka rsulm, and hun dreds of cruise missil es Co mmi ssion inv estigat ion. As Liz Tynan ill ustra tes in h er © Vict oria & Albe rt Muse um, in her book, which shows a pictu re of the iconic mush room we re position ed in Weste rn Eu rope. Whi le trying to es say earli er in th is p ublic ati on, th ese media rep orts Lond on cloud, c rossed out wi th a large red c ross. S he i nnoce ntly move on par with the USSR and Warsaw Pact’s nuclea r ra ised conc erns about una ccoun ted amoun ts of hi ghly as ks t he q ues tion, “Da ddy, w hat did You do in the Nuclear capabilit ies (in pa rticular the superior SS- 20 mediu m to xic pluto nium that had con tam inated l arge parts of Righ t: War ?” Obv iou sly ta king her c lues from the bo ok’s g rap hic range missi les), this was NATO’s strateg ic attempt to the test ran ge at Tar anaki as p art of the s o-c alled Vix en Toni Robe rtson and seemin gly unawa re of h er own abn orma lit ies, s he trade for the reduction or eliminati on of those weap ons. 12 B ‘ min or t ria ls’ from 1960 to 19 63. Additio nal ly, an (Aus trali a, b.19 53) Pam De benha m Chips Macki nolty qu est ions t he p aren ts’ ge ner ation’s res pon sibilit y, or lack It made Eu rope an immedia te and central theat re in cas e in cr easi ng n umber of vet era ns, or igi nally bou nd to s ecrecy (Aus trali a, b.19 55) (Aus trali a, b.19 54) No Nuk es in the Paci fic 19 84 th er eof, to prevent n ucl ear war. T he unusu al p hysic al of nuclear wa r, and reduced the response time down to th rough t he C rimes Act, c ame forwa rd and rep orted h eal th Dadd y, What did YOU do sc reen pr int on paper fe atu res of the chi ldren poi nt to lo ng- term g ene tic def ects minutes. Protests and demonstrati ons we re rampant in is sues alle ged ly con nec ted to exposure to r adi ation and in the Nucle ar War? 1977 88 x 62 cm as a res ult of exp osure to r adi ation and atm osp heric the 1980s; Ea ster Sunday ma rches attracted hund red s ra dio active d ebr is d uri ng and aft er t he t ests. sc reen pr int on paper Cou rtesy of the artist 76 x 50 cm fa ll- out. W hat did we do to stop nu cle ar wea pon s? of thousands across Eu rope . Avon Hudson was one of those who blew the whi stl e © the artist © the artists Image cou rtesy of Nati ona l Pam Debenham turns the mess age into a simpl e Nuclear Armageddon see med unavoid able. Th e on the neglec tful treatment of service personn el. Jessi e Image cou rtesy of Nati ona l Gall ery of Aus trali a, Can berra yet powe rful and time less graphic with No Nukes No predictable howl of air raid si rens at mid day eve ry Boylan (b.1 986) po rtrays him at his Balaclava ho me Gall ery of Aus trali a, Can berra

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among resea rch papers for his book Beyond Belief : Pi tja ntjatja ra in Yalata and O ak Val ley in 2 009. Pa int ings said: “We walked to Taranaki. We been the re. Couldn’ t Australia ’s Veterans Spe ak Out, which he co-autho red by Hilda Moodoo, Mau reen Sma rt, Yvonne Edwards and her sleep that ni ght. Coughing all night. Co ughing, coug hing , with Roger Cross. She int erviewed Hudson, a RAA F son Teren ce t ell the story of dis possess ion, illn ess and coughing. Couldn’t walk much. Now eve ryone at Oa k veteran and witness of the Vix en B trials, and extensivel y de ath: Anan gu a re pictured b eing gath ered by author iti es Valley has breathing problems.” 15 documented his life in photo and video. and driven away on trucks; m en in w hite prot ective su its Yvonne Edwa rds recalled: “I do n’t know why I am Under inc reas ing political pressu re, the Labo r ap pear while a fi erce atom bomb goes o ff in the d ist ance. still alive. I went eve rywhe re at Maralin ga. Eve rywhe re Gove rnment under Prime Minister Bob Hawke set up The disloca tion from count ry and its subs equen t I shouldn’t have. Nobody to ld us. … We didn’t kno w a Royal Commi ssion to unea rth the full sto ry of th e dest ruction are dominant and recu rring them es in th e the place was dange rous, poiso ned. One of our so ns, British ato mic tests. Led by Justice James McClelland , Anangu na rrative. While a younger gener ation know th e Tedd y, got ve ry sick. He was just a bab y. He was take n the Commiss ion set out to li ft the veil of sec recy th e tradition al lands only from stories and occasional visits , back to Yalata and later to Adelaide be cause he was st ill British had placed on the program, to fin d out about th e the trauma of forced removal from sand dunes cou ntry sick. My husb and got sick la ter, couldn’t see properl y. true natu re of the test program at Ma ralinga and Em u, to the lime sto ne coast remains a vivid me mory amon g His eyes. Died of lung cance r, sp reading fa st. Cance r and to add ress issues of responsib ilit y. The finding s an older gene ration. In May 2016 a painting project at all over his lu ngs. … All Anan gu men who worked at we re scathing and emphatica lly criticis ed the lack of Yalata provided an oppo rtunity for an in ter-genera tiona l are finished no w. Lost a sis ter too from cance r. conce rn for the heal th and safety of service personn el exchange. Nume rous paintin gs we re produced, an d In her 20s. And an uncle in his 40s from cance r. And an and Aborigi nal people in pa rticula r. The Repo rt made a the collabo rative canvas Maralinga Tj ulkurpa has been auntie from cance r. Two of my sons died in their 40s from number of sig nific ant recommend ations, among others , included in the exhibitio n. Cynthia Ch arra, Polly Cha rra , cance r. Sometimes I cry at night. ”16 requesting co mpensation to be paid and urging th e Verna Gibson, Edwina Ingoma r, Glenda Ken, Teres a Fi rst attem pts to c apt ure t he sto ry v isu ally w er e retu rn of Aborig inal lands to the Traditional Ow ners afte r Peters, Ca rmel Windlass, Mellissa Windl ass, Ann Mari e un dertaken by Lance A tki nson w hen he c ond ucted a a tho rough clean -up of the test si tes. Woods and Natasha Woods worked on it, guided by creative arts wo rks hop at Oak Valley. A tki nson ( 197 1– Hilda Moodo o Elders Mima Smart, Ma rga ret May and Rita Bryant. 20 14), a K ami laroi / artist from Mil dur a, (Pit jantj atjar a, b.19 52) Mamu tjuta, evil spirits are comin g Few Anangu remain who ex perienced the tests 60 Victor ia, had est ablished a clo se rel ati onship w ith the Mara linga Bomb 20 09 – the Aborigi nal experien ce years ago. Yvonne Ed wards (who sad ly passed away in small community no rthwest of Maralinga in the late 1990s ac rylic on canva s 40 x 50 cm The story of at omic te sti ng at M ara linga is t he d isl ocation 2012) was six years old at the time of the Bu ffalo serie s. and contin ued to vis it f or s eve ral ye ars. Pain tin gs resulti ng Produ ced for Maral inga, of Ana ngu Pit jantjat jara and K oka tha peo ple from the ir “Grandfat her and Grandm other telling lots of stori es. from the wo rkshop were s ubseq uen tly presented in an Lance Atkin son The An angu Story by Yalata la nds in t he G reat Des ert a nd f rom the Un ited They had to live at Yalata. Their home was bombe d. ex hib ition at t he A del aide F est ival in 20 02. Atk inson’s (Kam ila roi/ Yorta Yorta ; and Oak Vall ey Comm uniti es b.19 71, d.2 014) Ab ori gines Mis sion s tat ion at Ool dea. A lon gside the act ual That was their home whe re the bomb went off. Reall y own ren dit ions p resent the v iew er with an in tri guing mix with Christ obel Mattin gle y, Mara linga Fields of Thu nde r first publ ished by All en & nu cle ar exp los ion, b oth events fe ature prom inently in a frightene d. They thought it was mamu tju tja , evil spir its of Weste rn- sty le realism and sy mbo lism. 2009 Unwin in 200 9. nu mber of pai ntings by Indi gen ous arti sts from the 199 0s coming.” 14 While Anan gu witnessed the bombs go off on As Heather Lee obse rves: “Atk inson’s beli ef tha t ac rylic on canva s Cou rtesy of Hil da Mood oo on ward. Four pa intin gs w ere s elect ed f or t his exhib iti on their land from a distanc e, many retu rned and trave rse d his paintin gs should raise awa reness rath er tha n 173 x 130 cm © Mara linga Tja rutja Inc. Mara linga Piling Trus t from a g roup of o ver 40 w orks, whi ch h ad b een produced the land in sub sequent year s, especial ly when the Yalat a being polit ically cha rged, or offending, continues in his rep resen ting the Oak Valle y Cou rtesy of Chr is Gui lle and Yalata Commu nitie s, for the b ook Maralin ga – the Anangu S tory, a coll abo ration community was commissio ned to dismant le some of th e Maralinga series … the Mara linga series seeks to info rm and Ja ck Kir by 2009 of Ade laide aut hor Chr istobel Mat tingl ey a nd the Anangu remaining inf rast ructu re at Marali nga. Mabel Que ama the viewer of a devastating historical event, in this ca se © Mara linga Piling Trust

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the 1950s nuc lear tests and their afte rmath … Atkinso n does not desp air at the dest ruction and desolation th e nuclear tes ting has caused the people and their land . Th rough his work s, Atkinson ce lebrates the persistenc e and continu ance of the Ance stral teach ings and tradi tion s of the Oak Valley people, which he has wi tnessed; th e community ’s spirit safe gua rded by the st rength of th e Eagle Spiri t.” 17 A central mus hroom cloud domin ates the backg roun d of Maralinga Fields of Thun der . A powe rful (wedge -tail ) eagle ca rrying violet and red roses in his claws soar s Lin On us above, while a flock of Black Gala hs cross over th e (Yorta Yorta, b.1948, d.199 6) lower end of the canvas taki ng flight from a darkene d Mara linga 1990 fibreglas s, syn thetic polym er pai nt, landscape. The exact shape of the mush room cloud is ac rylic and paper stick ers repeated in a num ber of Atkinso n’s painting s, includin g (a) 16 3.0 x 56.0 x 62 .0 cm (figure) Maralinga IV Purple Dreaming (2001 ), Maralinga Vis ion (b) 12 5.0 x 119.0 x 45.0 cm (cloud ) of Hope (2003) and Maralinga (2009); the id entica l State Art Col lecti on, Art Galle ry of Weste rn Aus trali a outline is al so recognisable in Hilda Moodoo and Je ffrey Pu rchas ed 1990 Queama’s co llaborative paintings De struction I and II . © Lin Onus Es tate/ Licen sed by Hilda Moodoo (b.1952) was a participant of Atkinson’ s Visco py, 2016 workshop. She and her husba nd Je ffrey Queama (1947– 2009) paint ed in traditio nal style, yet Atkinson’s influenc e 1984, the Sou th Australian Gove rnment retu rned pa rts Lin Onus was the first to respond di rectly to th e Je ffrey Qu eama on the work is cl early visib le. of the 3000 squ are kilomet re test range to the tradition al Maralinga story. Son to a Scottish mother and a Yorta (Pit jantj atjar a, b.19 47, d. 2009) Queama, a Pit jantjatjara man bo rn in the Unite d owners. Que ama and his wife were among those wh o Yorta man from the Cumme ragunja Abor iginal rese rve on Hilda Moodo o Aborigines Mission (UAM) at Ooldea on the easte rn edg e founded the Oak Valley commun ity. the Mu rray River in New South Wales, William McLintoc k (Pit jantj atjar a, b.19 52) of the Nullab or Plain, was inst rumental in set ting up th e An inc reasing number of Aboriginal artists tu rned to Onus (1948– 96) was a politi cally minded Koori artist . Dest ruct ion I 20 02, Oak Valle y, SA synt hetic polymer paint on can vas small Oak Valley commu nity in 1984. With the dispersa l ac rylic canvas paintings in the 1990s, expa nding th e From a young age he was influ enced by his fa ther Bil l 119 x 98 cm of residents af ter the closu re of the miss ion in 1952 , tradition al ways of oral st ory-telling, sand painting, son g Onus (1906– 68), a success ful ent rep reneur (he ra n Sant os Fund for Ab origi nal Art 200 2 depicted by other Anangu artists as we have seen , and dance. At the same time ur ban artists develop ed Aboriginal Enterprises in Belgrave, not far from Bu rrinj a Art Galle ry of Sou th Aust ralia , he was sent to the Lutheran mis sion school at Koonibba , their own sty le, which was less info rmed by trad itiona l Dandenong Ranges Cultur al Cent re) and a politica l Adel aide Cou rtesy of Hil da Mood oo ne ar C eduna. For many years he lobbied ti relessly fo r designs and symbols but mo re by Eu ropean techniq ues activist who had campaign ed for the Abor iginal vote in 2002 5P24 the retu rn of the Maralin ga–Tja rutja land s. In Decembe r and materia ls. 1966-67. In the late 1940s had veh ementl y

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protested with the anth ropologist Dr Charles Dug uid , Jonathan Ku mintja rra Brown was one of these artists . MP Doris Blac kbu rn and Pastor Doug Nicholls (lat er Although he came to art only later in life, he created an Gove rnor of South Au stralia) aga inst the estab lishmen t extensive body of paintin gs and several installati ons of the Woomera rocket test ran ge on Aborigin al land s cent red on the Ma ralinga sto ry, driven in pa rt by his urge in South Aust ralia. The cam paign was smo the red by to ove rcome his own trauma. Th ree canvas pa intings are the App roved Defence Projects Act of June 1947 whic h included in the exhibitio n: Maralinga (1992), Black Rai n decla red anyone who “by speech or writ ing advocate s (1995) and Frogmen (199 6). or encourag es the preventio n, hindrance or obst ructio n Jo nat han Brown ( 196 0–97), a member of the ‘ Sto len of ca rrying out an approved defence project” was liabl e Ge ner ations’, was removed from h is P itj ant jatjara paren ts of a fin e of £5,000 or one year impris onment. at a very e arly ag e. He grew up with a fos ter family Lin Onus was not yet born t hen but the re is no dou bt in Mel bourne (and la ter in t he H unter Val ley) and w as th at he le arnt about his fat her ’s polit ical ac tiv ities as he ed uca ted at Camberwe ll G ram mar. In his late 20s he t ook grew up. He was often d esc ribed as a ‘br idge be twe en up Abo rigin al S tudies at the Sou th A ust ralian C oll ege for cu ltu res’ for h is e fforts to rec oncile I ndi genous and Ad van ced Ed uca tion in Underda le, Adela ide, and s tarted Eu ropean h eri tage. His tra dem ark pa int ing st yle merged pa int ing. B rown a cti vely s oug ht and eve ntual ly f ound h is Wes tern realism with t he t raditio nal Arnhem Land rarrk pa rents in t he s mall co mmu nity of Yal ata on the Great cross-ha tch ing te chn ique. Lin Onus w as g iven p ermiss ion Au str alian Big ht in S outh Au str alia. He l earnt he h ad a to pai nt in ra rrk by a seni or m ember of t he M urr ungun brother a nd m et h is p aren ts, but unable to speak their Dj ina ng cla n, J ack Wunu wun. la ngu age, f elt estra nge d. The sto ry of the c ommunit y’s In his lat er a rtist ic c areer Onus also c reated a series di slo cation a nd t he d est ruc tion of the ir lan ds c aused him of f ibre- glass scu lptures, a mong these Marali nga (199 0): co nsi derable dis tres s. Fab ian Peel, a nurse at the loc al An Abo rigin al m other prote cts her chi ld from the app arent cl ini c, now direc tor of Tul law on Hea lth Centre in Yal ata, pressure wave of an ato mic bla st. In defian ce s he is to ok h im on a t our throu gh t he l and s. He remem ber s: fa cing it hea d-on. A stylis ed a cryl ic mus hr oom c loud with “J ona than w as c ryi ng the who le way.” em bed ded ra dia tion s ymb ols ac com panies t he life- size The monumen tal canvas pai nting Marali nga Befo re sc ulp ture. Mother and chi ld a re i nnoce nt a nd u nkn owing the Atomic Test is pa rt of the Yarra Ranges Council’ s Oppo site pa ge (de tail above) : vi cti ms of t he e xpl osi on. Yet the mot her’s bod y-langu age McLeod Gift Collection, which is housed at and manage d Jona than Ku mintj arra Brown al so s peaks of o utr age and resis tan ce in t he f ace of (Pi tjant jatja ra, b.1960, d.1997) by Bu rrinja, and sho ws the count ry undistur bed. By th is h orrific e vent. The sc ulp ture is he ld in the co llect ion Mara linga 1992 contrast, Maralinga con fronts the viewer with the obviou s of the Art G allery of Western A ust ralia. It is a powerful ac rylic, sand and liza rd obliterat ion of the land: Dese rt sand is pou red ove r skel eton on line n response to the st ory of at omic test ing and of t he i mpa ct the traditi onal dot paint ing, obscuri ng the symbol s. Th e 167 x 106 cm on Abo rigin al p eople, and un den iably a key w ork, and an Ebes Collec tion Tjuku rrpa is lost. Signi ficant sites have been eradicated . in spi ration f or o ther artist s. © artist estate A central liz ard skeleton is all that remains .

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In Black Rain, Brown expands the story refe rencin g Maralinga region in the 1950s and 60s. As well as this , we re frighten ed and they we re saying: ‘We have got to do the ‘Milpud die incident’ by depicting a group of figures my community is su ffering social and physical il ls tha t something .’ They used woo mera (spear- throwers) to mak e in the lowe r, sandy pa rt of the canvas. Ed ie Milpuddie , occur in other Aboriginal communities that have bee n that ‘somet hing’ to change direction and go away, not to her husband, two child ren and dogs we re found cam pin g disposses sed.” 18 come to the main camp.” 19 near the crat er caused by the only ground-level test at The minimal ist but sizable painting Bl ack Rain refer s Tj ari ya Sta nley has p ain ted the story of t he ‘ black Maralinga, codenamed Ma rcoo. The ir disturbing sto ry wa s to radioact ive fall-out caused by the at omic explosi ons , mi st’, or puyu in her langu age, which is al so t he t itle for tho roughly inv estigated by the Royal Commi ssion and ha s and allows for associatio ns with the sto ry of th e her acryl ic pai nti ng. She says she chose to paint “h appy been retold by Liz Tynan in detail in her essa y. ‘black mist ’, a mysterious black cloud, which rolle d da ys” when A nan gu P itj antjatj ara famil ies gathered in Jonathan Ku mintja rra Brown was mentored artistical ly ac ross the land and affected an unk nown number of ca mps arou nd fires in a lan dsc ape filled wi th b ush flow ers by his friend, photographer and field collector Neil McLeod. Aboriginal people in its wa y. The 1984 Royal Commissio n in pin ks, mau ve, ye llow and w hit e. Puyu is d epi cted in the He got to kno w, and later co llaborated with Lin Onus, for gathe red many accoun ts from Aboriginal witnesses an d fo rm of d ang erous black s nakes, w hich en gulf the c amp s. example on Ni ssan Dreaming for the seminal Qu eenslan d white pasto ralists, and concluded that the cloud wa s “T he w ati (me n) were worri ed. They h ad kul ata (spea rs) Art Galle ry exhibiti on Balance 199 0: Views, Visions , probably a result of the first atomic test at Emu in 195 3 and miru (spe ar t hr owers – w oom era ). All the men were In fluenc es, an exhibit ion which had originally be en codenamed Totem. Yet, its origins and composit ion of ho ldi ng the kul ata hig h, they we re g oing to spear t he planned for the Bicentena ry celebration s. Brown’s ow n ‘black mist’ remain unexpla ined despite several scien tific en emy coming with the puyu. T hey wa nted to throw the oeuv re was presented at Tandanya Abori ginal Cultur al investiga tions . sp ears at the puyu. Institute at the 1996 Adela ide Festival as pa rt of th e “T he A nangu were f righten ed, so t hey started to run exhibition Native Title Now (cu rated by Do reen Mellor ) MY PO LITIC AL OUT LOOK HAS BEEN SHAR PENE D aw ay f rom the sm oke aband oni ng the ir c ampsi tes. When under the tit le Maralinga Nullius. It we nt on to be on BY WH AT HAP PENED TO MY FAMI LY. MU CH OF MY so me of th em ret urned la ter to E rna bel la they heard t he show at SH Ervin Galle ry in the following ye ar. Bu t ANCE STRAL LANDS ARE IN ACCE SSIBLE TO ME AS st ori es of t he ngan karri (witch doctor s) w ho tri ed to sa ve Brown did not live to see it. Only days befo re the openi ng, A CON SEQUE NCE OF ATOMIC TEST ING. the people when th ey h eard a bout this black puy u. They he passed away due to liver fa ilu re in the presence of hi s pe rfo rmed a cerem ony and by rem oving the ir tar ka (bone) friend Neil McLeod. Yami Lester OAM, a Yankunytjatj ara man, was ab out from th eir forearms and throwing it towards the smo ke, It is a surpris ing coincide nce that Jona than Kumintj arra 10 years of age at the time and li ving at Wallatinna , tr ied to p ush it a way and st op it from ha rming the Ana ngu. Brown’s work and spirit will retu rn to SH Ervin Galle ry 120km no rtheast of Emu. He recalls that he hea rd a But the smo ke w as t oo p owerful, too st rong. Many An angu almost 20 yea rs later for the opening of Bla ck Mist Bu rnt loud bang. “It was coming from the south – bl ack, lik e di ed.” she s aid. Tja riya St anl ey lost h er parents sho rtly Count ry and the launch of its national exhibition to ur. smoke. I was th inking it mig ht be a dust sto rm, but it af ter the inc ident.20 Tjar iya Sta nley As he stated in Maralinga – He art of the Count ry, a short was quiet, ju st moving th rough the trees and above the Yami L est er, n ow a Yan kun ytjat jara Elde r, d esc ribed the (Nga anyat jarra, b.1939 ) documenta ry commiss ioned by Tandanya and di recte d trees and above that again. It was just rolling and mo vin g effe ct of puy u: “I cann ot rem ember how lo ng a fter we were Puyu – Black Mist 20 15 by Rick Cavag gion for the 19 96 exhibitio n: “My politic al quietl y. … The old peop le we re frighten ed. They reckon it ge tti ng sick and sore e yes and wat ery e yes and diarrhea ac rylic on canva s 98 x 121 cm outlook has been sharpened by what happe ned to my was mamu , a pretty hard wo rd to translate into En glis h … v omi ting a nd s kin ras hes … pu rtju, sore on the s kin Ma rgo Bi rnbe rg and the artis t 21 famil y. Much of my ance stral lands are inacces sibl e … It could be som ething that could be bad or evil spirit , … I could not see with both eyes.” Des pite med ical © Ma rgo Bi rnbe rg and to me as a conseq uence of atom ic testing in th e or something we are not su re what it is. The old peopl e treatment he lo st h is s ight soon aft er a nd t hen com pletely the artist

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in 195 7. He was se nt to Ro yal Adela ide hospi tal, with out le ns. Belin da M ason ( b.1 971) p res ents an eer ie black we re exposed to, and what they th ought about th eir an int erpret er, w here his left eye was removed. He was and white 3D lentic ular holo gra phic p hot ograph, which ‘experien ce’, was not kno wn until long after the tests . to ld he had gone bli nd becau se of me asl es. His medical em pha sises Les ter’s bli ndness. It o rig ina tes in Mas on’s Veils of sec recy clouded the true natu re and thei r rec ords have be en rep orted m iss ing. Unf inished Bus iness ser ies, w hich was la unched in extensive haza rds. Bound to sec recy by respectiv e When in the 198 0s Lester hea rd on ABC radio an Se pte mber 2 013 at t he P alais des Natio ns in Ge neva laws, many ve terans only un locked their memories an d inte rview with Sir Ernest Titte rton, a nucl ear physicis t to coi ncide with the 24th Se ssi on of t he UN C omm ittee on histories to wives and fami lies when mys terious illn esse s who was a member of the Austra lian Atomic Weapon s the Rights of P ersons with Dis abiliti es. In c ont rast, Jes sie and dec reasing health affected them. Only gradual ly di d Tests Safety Committee from its incepti on in 1955 to Bo ylan (b.1 986) plac es Yami Le ster in the famil iar bush the general public become aware of these stor ies, usuall y 1957, and cha irman of the committee from 1957 unti l of his tra dit ional cou ntry at Wal lat inna S tat ion sta nding th rough the voic es of whistle- blowers and jo urnalists. 1973, he had a realisati on. Lester wri tes in his awa rd- st rai ght, w ith hands loc ked in f ront of him as in p ray er. Kate Downhi ll’s father was a member of a team of winning aut obiography Yami (1996) that “he was talkin g Yet, his fa ce a nd h is t eeth appe ar as cl enc hed in pai n, British sci entists present at the ‘m ajor’ and some of the about the ato mic weapons te sts at Emu in 1953 and from an inv isibl e, d eep hu rt. In t his portr ait we e nco unter ‘minor’ tes ts at Monte Bello and Maraling a, and durin g at Maralinga in 1956 and 195 7. I was in bed list ening , an upright pose, fac ing an unknown and unima gin able hyd rogen bomb te sts on Christm as Island. For Downhill , but didn’t really pay mu ch attention to what he wa s ev ent – li ke t he m any innoc ent soldi ers and off icers who her paintin gs take on an imp ortant funct ion: th e saying. Then I hea rd the inte rviewer ask him: ‘And wha t tu rned their b acks to the bo mb a fter t he w hite nu clear “memorial isation of tho se events, dra wing on famil y about the Abo riginal peop le?’ Sir Ernest Titte rton says : flash had ab ated to witness the g reat s pec tacle . me mor ies and histor ies, and my own c hil dhood ima ginings ‘Oh, the black people we re well looked afte r. We ha d and pe rceptions about Austra lia”. 23 two pat rol of fic ers in the area.’ He was tal king like that . Roads to Mara ling a Do wnh ill (b .19 55), w ho m oved to Austra lia from the UK And I said to the radio: ‘Bull shit.’ I remember now! I wa s – Contempor ary concerns in 200 9, d raws on fra gments of memory and scr aps of at Wallatinna. I remember that pat rol of ficer used to come With his bronze scul ptu re, Maralin ga Test Dumm y, in formati on, which she weaves into qui lt-like ‘pa tchwo rk’ to the camp. All the Anangu ca lled him kuta – brothe r. … Craig McDon ald recalls a fami liar image from the earl y pa int ings ( Ope rations Hurricane, Mo saic, Tot em a nd All day I thoug ht about what he said. And thin gs sta rte d blasts: a sole obse rver watch es the blast th roug h Bu ffa lo). Al ong side o ther works and a var iety of person al coming back to me”. 22 an impenetr able viso r, pe rhaps in aw e, admiring th e pa rap hernalia s he presented th ese in an ex hib ition at Yami Lester’s account fo rmed a co rnerstone amo ng demonic sc ene, unaware and, as th ey o ften w er e, kept Ma cqu arie U niv ersity A rt G all ery in 2013 ti tled Ch ain Indigenous witness acco unts during the enqui ry of in the dark about the true natu re and potential danger s Re act ion. In the exh ibi tion’s c atalogue Br ian Mai dment Jess ie Boyl an the Royal Com mission. In Ju ne 1984 he trav elled to of the haza rdous event. McD onald (b.195 5) notes in hi s ob served “a recogni tion of the social hi story of q uil ts as a (Aus trali a, b.19 86) London, acc ompanied by his wife Lucy and lawye r artist stat ement: “Blin dness, from viewing the bl asts , fo rm of m emo risat ion collect ive ly und erta ken by w omen to Yami Le ste r, Walla tinn a Stat ion, So uth Au stral ia Richa rd Bradsha w, and to Japan in 1989, to camp aig n was a real th reat, but this figu re expl ores the notion of en sure t hat the his tory of the tribe or nati on is ma int ained 2006 for recogniti on and compens ation for the vi ctims of a mo re menacing blindness – that of ignorance couple d in hum an m emo ry. S uch memor ial ising turns perso nal digi tal ink jet pr int British ato mic tests. with coloni al arrogance. Yet, the rendering of the fig ure me mor ies and experi enc es into em blema tic shapes th at 85 x 85 cm In Bla ck M ist Burnt Cou ntry two p hot ographic po rtrai ts gives him a he roic qualit y, as if these pa rticipan ts we re ha ve s uffi ci ent we ight to sta nd for the col lec tive h ist orical Cou rtesy of Yami Leste r and the artist sh ow Yami Le ster in qui te varied ways and offer d iffe rent somehow free of no rmal moral constraints .” na rra tiv es t hr ough whi ch nat ions begin to my tho logise a nd © the artist pe rsp ectives of t heir su bject throu gh t he p hot ographe rs’ The full exte nt of what se rvice and civi lian personn el un der stand the ir own his torie s”. 24

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Operation Hurricane (20 13) quotes Bri tish Prim e In Rev enge of the S tormboy, Adel aide bas ed N garri ndj eri Minister Cl ement Attlee, promoting a New World Order at arti st Trev or N ickol ls ( 1949– 201 2) dis pla yed his outrage the dawn of the atomic age in 19 45: “This so rt of thin g ab out the ato mic te sts. Nick olls unus ual ly (al mos t) has in the past being been con side red an Utopian dream . mo noc hrom atic pain ting depi cts an I ndi genous m an w ho It has today be come the esse ntial condit ion of su rviva l br ings with his ce remon ial spear f lames to a cit y, s ett ing and of civili sation and pos sibly of life on this planet. ” hi gh- rises, h ous es a nd e ven Luna Park on fire. Al armed, Si nce the f irst a tom ic test at Ala mog ordo in New Mex ico nu merous w hite fi gu res wave the ir arms in t he f oreg round, as part of t he Ame ric an Manha ttan Proj ect, t here h as wh ile a mo ther leads away a ch ild, an image N ickolls used be en an on goi ng fas cin ation with the d evi lish b omb and repeate dly used. She carri es a dil ly b ag, whi ch con tai ns a its majest ic t oxic c loud as it r ises, like in sl ow m oti on, tiny mush room cloud. The painting was inspi red by the to even greater h eights a nd p owe r. N ot s urpri sin gly, t he Australian movie Sto rm Boy made in 1976, which is placed ‘m ush room cl oud’ is an in tri guing arti stic m otif – a symbol at the Coorong ne ar the mo uth of the Mu rray Riv er and tel ls for human a bil ity to achieve sci entifi c b ril lia nce, a nd to the sto ry of a young bo y, Sto rm Boy: he fo rms a specia l ca use unpreceden ted destruc tion. relationship with Mr Pe rcival, one of th ree pelican chick s As Sydney a rtist Hugh Ramage notes: “The development he rescues and nu rtu res, but is eventually shot by hunters. of the atom bomb was the culmi nation of an ext rao rdina ry The British atomic test p rogram was one of the fi nal acts commitment of resou rces, ene rgy and creativity an d of colonialism in flicted on Australians. The subsequent rep resented two of the most irrep ressible char acteristic s report of the R oyal Co mmi ssion has been des cribed as a of humanity being: the pote ntial for mas sive creativit y si gnif ica nt d ocument marking the arri val of a pos t-imper ial and violenc e.” 25 Ramage (b.1 958) has paint ed the Britis h Au str alia, “for it ide ntified Britain as a foreign country testing of three devices in oil on canvas: Totem (at Emu) , – an idea that wo uld have b een incom pr eh ens ible to and Taranaki and An tler (series) at Maralinga. Thes e Au str alians of the 1 950 s”, co ncl udes p oli tical jou rnalist paintings are small, but the da rk renditions fill the canva s Fr ank Bongi orno. “It p res ent ed the Bri tish as prone to and beset the ir sinister im pression on the vi ewe r. ma nip ulating and exp loi ting t he A ustra lian peop le, with In comparis on, (b.1 959), a Waanyi woma n the assist ance of a lo cal cla ss of c ons erva tive A ust ralian from Queenslan d, produced a series of sublime pai nting s An glo philes a nd e xpa tri ate Br ito ns.”26 simply titl ed bomb test (1– 5, 1995), two of which are Rosema ry Laing (b.19 59), another artist from a Craig McDon ald Hugh Ramage (Aus trali a; New Zealan d, included in the exhibitio n. These offer no histo rica l generation born in the Menz ies era, set out from Sydne y (Aus trali a; New Zealan d, b.19 58) refe rence, nor do th ey depict the actual event. They are to see the epic ent re of British colonialism with her ow n b.19 58) Mara linga Test Dum my 201 0 minimalis tic in size and co lou r, quite the op posite to th e eyes. After a long, arduous jou rney th rough ‘outbac k Totem 2014 bronz e oil on canva s real spectacle; yet they draw the viewer in to a close stud y, Australia’ she arrived at Emu. In a re-enactm ent of 55 x 38 x 24 cm 40 x 35 cm Cou rtesy of the artist contempla ting the unima ginable power of dest ruction an d Cook’s land ing, she plant ed an old Briti sh flag given to Cou rtesy of the artist © the artist its invisib le th reat to life and health. her by one of her Wi radjuri frie nds. “I found the wonk y © the artist

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metal tripod lying around in the general vicin ity. I erecte d experienc es, not just to si mply erase hi sto ry and suppo rt it and attach ed the fl ag. … I used the fl ag to emphasis e a collective amnesia.” 28 Black Wind in tegrates foo tage of the infe rred event ownership announced by the ins criptio n the Aborigi nal Tent Embassy on the lawns of Pa rliamen t on the brutalist mo nument.” 27 For generations to come , House in Canb erra, a beacon of political ac tivism an d this and other ‘monuments’ will mark tri al sites at Mont e protest for Abor iginal (land) rights since 1972. Th e Bello, Emu and Maralinga, memorials of Australia n work was made with the suppo rt and ag reement of tent subse rvience to the Br itish mother count ry. embassy mem bers Isabel Co e, Ray Swan, Ma isie an d Inte rnationally renowned video artist Susan No rri e Brendan Cook and screened in the Ne therlands an d (b.1953) co ntinues the th eme of coloni al disposses sio n Belgium in 20 05 and at the Ade laide Festiv al in 200 6 and its ongoi ng rami fica tions in the vi deo edit Black Win d. accompani ed by an orchestral soundtrack by Sydney- She states: “We are at a critic al and signi fi cant momen t based compo ser Kim Bowman . in the histo ry of the world and as an artist one fee ls an Bl ack Mist was c omm iss ioned by t he Dut ch G overnm ent eno rmous responsi bility to docu ment the truths of ou r and written by Bowman (b.19 57) for Clai re Edwa rde s

Oppo site pa ge: Meri lyn Fai rskye (Aus trali a, b.19 50) The Day After (Towe r, Th e Poly gon, Ka zakhs tan) 2015 pigm ent pri nt 36 x 53 cm Cou rtesy of the artist © Meri lyn Fa irsky e/ Lice nsed by Viscop y, 201 6

Top ri ght, and rig ht: Kim Bo wman (Aus trali a, b.19 57) Susan Norrie (Aus trali a, b.19 53) Black Wind 20 05 musi cal com posit ion and si ngle channel video dura tion 29 :30 mi ns dime nsions varia ble Cou rtesy of the artist s © the artists

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and Amste rdam Sinfoniet ta. Two wind tur bines on stag e Kate Shaw (b. 1969 in Sydne y, lives and works in a 1 5m d eep trench in wh ich all previ ous ly and prese ntly accelerate wind chimes producing di sturbing sou nds New York and Melbou rne) and photo graphers Paul Ogie r co nta minated soi ls, deb ris, t est equip men t, mac hin ery, while the pe rcussive value of the orchestra is exp ose d (b.1974 in Au ckland, lives and works in Sa nta Cruz , bu ild ings a nd b ulldo zers are b uri ed. by tapping and hitting the body of the inst ruments . USA, and Sydn ey) and Jessie Boylan (b.19 86 in Sydne y, Places with hidden histor ies like Emu and Maraling a Members of the orchestra play specially des igne d works in Cast lemaine, VIC) app roach the sto ry of Britis h are not uncommo n. The photogr aphs by Sydney -base d pe rcussion ins truments, like foot slaps and triangle s. atomic tests in quite di ffe rent, but al so less obvio usl y Merilyn Fai rskye (b.195 0) di rect the atte ntion to Polyg on, Pe rcussion sol oist Clai re Edwa rdes pe rfo rms on a rang e conf ronting wa ys. the fo rmer Sovjet test area in Kazakh stan. The remnant s of addition al pe rcussion in struments, some ho memade . of inf rastruc ture s tand o ut amo ng g reen mead ows – All set to evoke the th reatening slow culmina tion of th e THE HISTOR IES OF THE SI TE, UNAS SUMIN GLY qu ite liter all y, g rass h as g rown over its destruc tive h ist ory. piece. The ra dio broadcast reco rding of the conce rt at CALL ED ‘FO RWARD ARE A’ REMA IN LAR GELY Yet, these se rve as a reminde r, that nume rous test site s Het Muziekg ebouw in Amste rdam on 12 Novem ber 200 5 INVI SIBLE . ac ross the globe with mo re than 2000 atmospheri c was kindly ma de available by Russell Post ema, chie f and unde rground tests present themselves as sca rred , editor of the Dutch Klassiek Radio 4. Paul Ogier’s monoch rome photograph refers to the sit e contamina ted, lifeless landscapes. As Fairskye explain s of the first atomic test at Maralinga on 27 Septembe r in her artist statem ent these ima ges developed from Counts Per Mi nute … and still countin g 1956, coden amed One Tree , pa rt of the Bu ffalo seri es. her work about the 1986 Che rnobyl nuclear acciden t – Contempor ary responses (part 2) Ogier presents a void. A sole tree leans aga inst an empt y and the resonances of its after-life. In response to th e For Blak Doug las (b.1970), a descendant of the sk y. The disti nct nuclear cl oud fo rming above si lent mulg a developme nt of the US atomic program, the Sovi et Unio n Dha rug of the Sydney area, successi ve Australian prim e and saltbush is easily imag inable . conducted nuclear explo sions between 1949 and 198 9 ministers and their gove rnments have be en complicit in These days few signs of the el aborate infr ast ructu re at the Polygon Nuclear Test Site in Kaz akhstan . their negli gence of Indig enous landow ners, Austr alia n requi red to conduct and monitor the tests remain : Australian test sites offer the visitor little excite men t se rvicemen and the count ry itself. In the painting Tja rutj a conc rete laun ch pads, steel boxes pa rtially buri ed in th e in the way of bui ldings, lau nch pads and tow ers thes e Traged y, clouds for 23 prime mini sters hover ov er a ground and scatt ered pieces of rusty met al attract th e days, as all th ese we re either ev aporated in the nuclea r sco rched lands cape. A ghostly traditional hunter walk s visitors’ attention. The histories of the site, unas sumingl y blasts or the ir debris removed and bur ied in subsequ ent the ba rren land. called ‘fo rwa rd area’ remain la rgely invisib le in a sca rred Sydney-ba sed Blak Dougl as is pa rt of half a doze n and pa rtly rehabilit ated landsca pe dotted with conc ret e Oppo site pa ge: younger artists in Black Mi st Bu rnt Count ry. These Gen memorials which indicate seven ‘major test’ locati ons Paul Ogier (USA /Aust ralia; New Ze aland , X and Gen Y are, not unlike the rest of their gene ration , at Maraling a: One Tree, Ma rcoo, Kite, Breakawa y, Tadje , b.19 74) a well-educ ated, sophis ticated and in formed grou p Biak and Taranaki . One Tree (f ormer Emu Fiel d of met ropolitan creatives and glo bal citizens, whos e At Taranak i, t he l arge st a nd m ost conta min ated area, atom ic test site) 2010 artistic pr actice is info rmed by soci al and envi ronmenta l ex ten sive e arth -scrapi ng o perat ions as part of t he final carb on pigm ent on rag pap er 72 x 90 cm awa reness. Pa inters, Ka ren Standke (b .1973 in Muni ch, cl ean -up in the la te 1 990s a re c lea rly vi sib le. A l arge 94 x 117 cm fra med lives and wor ks in Melbou rne and Christch urch) , mo und, like an overs ized gr ave, domi nat es the lan dscape. Cou rtesy of the artist Adrian Brie rley (b.1973, lives and wor ks in Melbou rne) , Me asu ring 2 00m by 1 20m, and 2 .5m in h eig ht, it covers © Paul Ogier

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clean-ups. The changing physical nature of the site hide s various lay ers of its exist ence. A few remaining sig ns in Maralinga village and ac ross the range offer an insig ht into the chan ging ownersh ips of the area. Adam No rto n (b.1964) vi sualises the se past realities by rec reating th e signs. Prohibi ted Area refers to a time when traditio nal owners we re excluded from their co unt ry because it wa s pa rt of the Woomera Prohibited Zone: the Aust ralia n Gove rnment and Def ence Depa rtment held ownership of the land long after the comp letion of the te sts. In 201 4 Maralinga Tjarutja traditio nal owners gai ned total con trol over their la nds. Similarl y, Mick Broderick (b.1959) rep roduc es a present-day sign, one of over 2000 su rrounding th e ‘fo rwa rd area’, wa rning Aborigi nal visitor s: kuka palya , ‘hunting go od’; ngura wiy a, but ‘no camp ing’. Broderic k points out th at “this sign combines icon ography an d text assumed to be comp rehensible to local Indigen ous peoples. Gi ven the millen nia of deep time requi red to safegua rd the buried nuc lear contami nants, th e semiotics of these signs remain high ly contestab le”. 29 To illustrate the point, samp les of red soil and mo lte n Abov e: sand from Marali nga’s Breakaway test site acco mpan y context and placed in galle ry/museum disp lays, thes e Ian Ho ward (Au stral ia, b. 1947) Enola Gay 19 75 the wa rning. The ato mic explosion caused a heat ba ll, objects pose impo rtant questio ns. What meani ng do Mick Broderi ck black wax cr ayon rubb ing on three several tho usand times ho tter than the surface of th e these objec ts hold? Are these objects relevant onl y (Aus trali a, b.19 59) Righ t: shee ts of pa per, two black and sun, which bu rnt the count ry: instant aneously the groun d because of th eir (histori cal) context? What do the y Coun ts Per Minute (CPM) : Ian Ho ward white photo graph s, wax rubbin g Alch emy 201 5 melted into glass; this tra nsmutation trapped some of tell us about the laye red histories? What potentia l (Aus trali a, b.19 47) 274 x 361 cm 2 x gla ss pet ri dish es. B29 Su perfo rtres s Art Galle ry of New South Wales the radionu clides inside turning the sa nd green; just lik e interp retations do they offer ? Cont ents: (a) Mar alinga soil ; Fuel Line Cl amp 20 16 Gift of the NSW Gove rnme nt Art at the te st at Alamogo rdo, which has gi ven thes e Artist Ian Ho ward presents an unusual exhib it whic h (b) at omic glass fused an d metal and rubbe r Scho larsh ip Comm ittee 1977 artifacts the name trinit ite, also known as atomsit e exempli fies the se questions: a B29 Supe rfo rtress fue l tran smuted from so il nea r 15 x 50 x 35 mm Phot o: Mim Stirli ng/AG NSW ground zero or Alamogo rdo glass. Only over time did the radiatio n line clamp , in itself, an un assuming and somewha t Cou rtesy of the artist © Ian Howa rd/Lic ensed by 2 x 25 cm each © Ian Howa rd/Lic ense d Visco py, 2016 dec rease and the surface glass break up into sha rds. irrelevant pie ce of machine ry. The clamp, howeve r, wa s Cou rtesy of the artist by Vis cop y, 201 6 229. 1977. a-e Taken out of its authentic envi ronment and its origina l a pa rt of the bomb bay area on the Enola Gay , the plan e © the artist

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Howeve r, the world-ch anging so rtie of the Enola Gay is, Cold War period we re promising and led to signi fican t FOOT NOTES

appa rentl y, not identi fied in the displa y.) disa rmament, la rge numbers of wa rheads and deli very 1 Tsuchida, Hi romi. Hi roshima , Tokyo 1985, p.5 18 Brown, Jonathan Kumintja rra. In Maralinga – Hea rt of the Count ry, The changing histo ry of the Maralinga lands is no t mechanisms remain – they are maintained and, in fact , 2 McCaughe y, Patrick. Why Australian painting Matters , p.199 di rected by Rick Cavaggion, documenta ry, 12 mins, Adelaide 199 6 immediate ly obvious to the visito r. Newly erected signag e up-graded. Jessie Boylan and Linda Dem ent’s multi- 3 Clarke, Jane. Nolan – Landscapes & Legends , p.109 19 Mattingle y, Christobel (ed.). Su rvival in our in own land – se rves to educa te the inte rested pa rticipant of Maraling a channel vid eo Shift, add resses the seeming impos sibilit y ‘Aboriginal’ experiences in ‘South Australia’ told by Nungas and 4 The Sun , Sydne y, 31 Ma rch 1950 Tours, an enter prise operat ed by Maraling a-Tja ruta , of cu rtailing or hal ting the build up of nuclear we apons . others , Adelaide 1988, p.92 5 Gayno r, And rew. An odd, ang ry p rotest: Sidney Nolan’s 20 Reco rded by Ma rgo Bi rnbe rg, E rnabella, December 2015 about the ext ensive program the Briti sh had planned in “C an h umans and nuc lear weap ons co-ex ist ?” they as k. images of contempora ry political events . Unpublished thesis, order to be acc epted into the nuclear club in the 1950s . “C an t he s yst ems of glo bal sel f-destruc tion be prop iti ated, University of Melbou rne, 2007 21 Mattingle y, Christobel (ed.). Su rvival in our own land – ‘Aboriginal’ experiences in ‘South Australia’ told by Nungas and others , But while the recent acc essibility to the range sugg est s di sen tangled and dis man tled?”31 In t he v iew of i ncreasi ng 6 Smith, Geo ffrey. Sidney Nolan – Dese rt and Drought , p.94 Adelaide 1988, p.92 it is reasonably free of health ris ks, the area remain s proliferation of fissile materials, global te rror th reats and 7 Hawle y, Janet. Leaving the Landscape , in the Good Weekend , 22 Leste r, Yami. Yami – The autobiography of Yami Lester , Mick Broderi ck The Sydney Mo rning Herald , 9 May 1998 pe rmanently uni nhabitable for generati ons to come . nuclear rogue states, the p rospect is bleak. If it is any Alice Springs 1993, p.174 (Aus trali a, b.19 59) Yalata artist Warren Paul (b.1 970) has add ressed thi s indication: in 2015 the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved 8 Thomas, Daniel. Hawkins, Ha rold F rederick (1893–1977) , Australian Coun ts Per Minute (CPM) : 23 Downhill, Kate. A rtist statement issue poign antly in his clay sculptu re Toxic Australi a. the ‘doomsday clock’ to th ree minutes to midnight, a point Dictiona ry of Biography , National Centre of Biograph y, Australian Semi osis 20 15 National University – http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hawkins- 24 Maidment, Brian. In Chain Reaction – Kate Downhill , Alum inium frame and In this work the ‘hea rt of Australi a’, as it is often refe rred whe re it had not been since 1984 and 1949, stating: ha rold-f rederick-10457/text18547, published fi rst in ha rdcopy Macquarie Universit y, Sydney 2013, p.9 repli ca sig n to, has become a resting place for ominous yell ow “T he prob abi lity of global cat astrop he is v ery h igh, a nd 1996, accessed online 29 Janua ry 2016 25 Ramage, Hugh. A rtist statement, 2015 191 x 62 cm ba rrels usually associated with nuclear wa ste. A bluis h the actions ne eded to red uce the risks of disast er m ust 9 Chanin, Eileen, Steven Mille r, The A rt and Life of Weaver Hawkins (sign 60 x 30 cm) 26 Bongio rno, Frank. The Eighties – The Decade that transfo rmed 32 – Weaver Hawkins Memorial Ret rospective Exhibition, 1995, p.62 Cou rtesy of the artist substance seeps from some, fo rming a toxic stream , be tak en ve ry s oon .” The message could not be clea rer. Australia , Collingwood 2015, p.119 © the artist which, ironicall y, runs to fo rm a lake in Tasmania, a 10 The fi rst major reactor accident occu rred at Th ree-Miles-Island, 27 Laing, Rosema ry. Studio notes, November 2013 region that is associated with envi ronmental pristinenes s. Ha rrisbu rg, Pennsylvania, in 1979 28 No rrie, Susan. A rtist statement, 2004 Wooden fence pos ts and barbed wire secu re the site . 11 James, Rod. Nuclear (R)Age , The Bomb in Australian A rt, Clayton, 29 B roderick, Mick. A rtist statement, May 2016 1993, p.10 that dropped the first atomic bomb. Ho ward (b.1947 ) Cattle ya rds of the 19th and 20 th centuries have bee n 30 Gleeson, James. Realism with a Di ffe rence , The Sun-Herald , 12 NATO’s ‘Double Track’ strategy paid o ff with the 1988 INF Treaty came ac ross the plane, co vered in dust, in the far co rne r replaced with the 21st centu ry waste dump . 6 Feb rua ry 1972, p.102 (Inte rmediate Nuclear Fo rces), which regulated the removal and 31 Boylan, Jessie and Dement, Linda. A rtist statement of a storage ha ngar in Suitl and, Ma ryland, wh en he wa s This witty li ttle sculpture hits the ne rve of th e Jan Dirk (‘JD ’) Mittmann (b .1968) grew up in Wes t dest ruction of launcher and rocket motors, but not the elimination working with objects of the American spa ce projects . issue: Indi genous commu nities are conce rned abou t Ge rmany during the nuclear arms race. He has a of nuclear wa rheads. 32 http://thebulletin.o rg/timeline Surprised about the unexp ected discov ery, Howa rd too k envi ronmental degradation through uranium minin g MA in Histo ry and Politi cal Science from the Technica l 13 Kell y, Paul. How to Make Gravy , p.304 the oppo rtunity and ‘wax- rubbed’ a th ree-met re sectio n and nuclear waste storage issues. Sydne y-base d University Berlin, and a Gr aduate Dipl oma in Film & TV 14 Mattingle y, Christobel. Maralinga’s Long Shadow: Yvonne’s Sto ry, ADi of the front of the in famous plane. Critic James Gleeso n artist Luke Cornish (ELK) (b.1979) wa rns: Wake Up and Graduate Certi fica te in Indigeno us Arts Management , Melbou rne 2016, p.43 (Aus trali a, b.19 73) 15 Mattingle y, Christobel. Maralinga’s Long Shadow: Yvonne’s Sto ry, described the rubbing as a process that “subtracts the to the Stink . both from the Victor ian College of the Arts, Universit y In Ant icipa tion of Ma rcoo Melbou rne 2016, p.65 actual presence of the object and leav es us with a kin d In the wider pi ctu re this inclu des conce rns about th e of Melbou rne. He is a fo rmer jou rnalist, award-winnin g 2016 of ghost, a residue which summons up the reality of the proliferation of nuclear was tes and weapon grade nuclea r content producer and do cumenta ry film make r. For ove r 16 Mattingle y, Christobel. Maralinga’s Long Shadow: Yvonne’s Sto ry, oil on canva s Melbou rne 2016, p.67 89 x 41 cm in 18 th cent ury object”. 30 In this case, it summons the reality of the event. materials, as well as the ex istence of nuc lear weapo n ten years he was worked in the communit y, comme rcia l 17 Lee, Heathe r. In Silent Reconciliation , exhibition b rochu re, French gi lt fra me (The plane, now fully resto red, is at the Smithsonian stockpile s. While Strat egic Arms Reducti on Treaty (S TART ) and public art sectors. He is Curator and Ma nager of Arts Cent re, 2009 Cou rtesy of the artist National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC . negotiati ons between the US and in the post- Collectio ns at Bu rrinja. © the artist

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