A $1.5 million exhibition of Australian indigenous art, which opened in Athens this week, will give visitors to the Olympics a confronting insight into Aboriginal art, culture and history.
Our Place: Indigenous Australia Now, a joint Victorian-NSW initiative being held at the Benaki Museum, provides a social and historical context to Aboriginal art and contemporary cultural expression.
Exhibits include Lin Onus's powerful life-size sculpture called They took the children away, which is about the stolen generations, protest footage from the 1972 Aboriginal tent embassy in Canberra and a precious collection of boab nuts painted by Jack Wherra, showing violent attacks by white settlers.
Curator Steve Miller, from Sydney's Powerhouse Museum, says the aim is to challenge people, not to present predictable stereotypes or traditional art displays, though there are significant pieces by some of Australia's leading Aboriginal artists.
"I don't think it is very controversial but it certainly deals with issues on all sides in some of the works, because that's become part of our culture now and our art," Miller says. "History and culture are very much a part of who we are
... We have tried to do something that gives a broad sweep of our incredible diversity."
The exhibition reciprocates Greece's gift of the 1000 Years of the Olympic Games exhibit, which was held at the Powerhouse Museum during the Sydney Olympics.
More than 250 pieces have been gathered from the collections of the Museum of Victoria and the Powerhouse Museum, as well as significant works from institutions and private lenders. It is the first indigenous Australian exhibition in Greece and is part of the official Cultural Olympiad program.
Designed by Alison Page along the concept of a campfire, the exhibition focuses on the five themes of spirit, country, conflict, family and cultural renewal.
"All these stories of survival, joy, sadness and ultimately triumph are told around a campfire. It's our place and our story," explains Miller. "All curators are Aboriginal, which is a significant achievement. It's Aboriginal people speaking for themselves; that's the most significant thing about the show."
Urban and rural artists from every state are represented in the exhibition, which includes precious artefacts, painting, weaving, as well as multi-media and video installations and contemporary music.
While there is an Olympic theme from both former host cities, Melbourne and Sydney, some of the exhibits chosen had special resonance for Greece.
One is an interview and images from the photographic archives of Alick Jackomos, a Greek immigrant who travelled around Victoria with his Aboriginal wife Merle taking photographs of Aboriginal life.
Another is part of a work based on the family tree of Kalliope Koumalatsos, a Melbourne-based artist who is of Greek and Aboriginal descent. The work includes images of her maternal Aboriginal Lutheran grandmother in north-western Victoria and a photograph she took of her paternal grandmother on the Greek island of Samos 20 years ago.
The exhibition is being held at the new 3000-square-metre temporary exhibition gallery of the Benaki Museum, one of the finest private museums in Greece.
The torch that Cathy Freeman carried to light the cauldron at the Sydney Olympics is also part of the exhibit.
The Museum of Victoria director Patrick Greene agrees the exhibition presents the many difficult and painful issues which have confronted Aborigines since European settlement. He says it guides viewers through the incredible story of a culture of survival, revival and renewal.
"Australia is a country which is prepared to deal with both the difficult issues and wonderful achievements. Identity, pride, reconciliation are words which museums are able to embrace as part of their social purpose," Greene told journalists in Athens last week.
Our Place: Indigenous Australia Now until August 30
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