Art and Conflict

This chapter examines the role of art in the commemoration of armed conflict, with Australia as a specific case study, contextualised in relation to former British dominions like New Zealand, Canada and India. The focus is on Australia’s memorial culture regarding European World wars of the twentieth century, and on its little-acknowledged colonial Frontier Wars of occupation, waged against First Nations defenders. Diverse colonial, settler and contemporary First Nations artistic and curatorial approaches are considered, drawn from Australia and other territories. The chapter concludes with an account of the 1988 installation The Aboriginal Memorial, and its role in both keeping cultural memory alive and asserting the principle of Indigenous sovereignty.