2. Topic : Cultural Warriors
• Week 1 – Fiona Foley
Biography
• Week 2 – Fiona Foley Art
Practice
• Week 3 – Fiona Foley Frames
& Conceptual Framework
• What is a Cultural Warrior?
3. Cultural Warrior :
Definition
• Warriors – what / whom are these cultural
warriors fighting against?
• The mainstream, the establishment, the
uneducated, the uninformed.
• These artist warriors are going on the attack
as much as defending their culture.
• They are attacking the ignorance of the
general non-indigenous population – raise
their awareness, bring them a knowledge of
the concealed (deliberately or otherwise)
forgotten and whitewashed histories.
4. Bibliography
• Australian Aboriginal, born
Maryborough, Queensland 1964
• Grew up in Hervey Bay and
Sydney
• Certificate of Arts at East Sydney
Technical College in 1983
• Bachelor of Visual Arts at Sydney
College of Arts in 1986
• Diploma of Education at the
University of Sydney in 1987
5. Why Foley is a
Cultural Warrior
• My work today is
driven by my
custodial
responsibilities to my
land, Fraser Island and
my political existence
as an Indigenous
person of Australia.
6. Aboriginal Background
• Fiona Foley is one
of Australia’s best
known Aboriginal
artists and as
artist of
international
repute.
• Her people, the
Batdjala, are the
original
inhabitants of
Fraser
Island, north of
Brisbane.
7. History of Fraser Island
• The island of K’gari or
Thoorgine, as it was
known by its
inhabitants, came to
the attention of
colonial Queenslanders
with the shipwreck
there in 1836 of the
Stirling Castle.
• The Captain’s wife, Eliza Fraser, survived and
subsequently lied in captivity for six months
with the Aboriginal inhabitants.
8. The Batdjala People’s
History
• Many Batdjala people were
enslaved by colonial
rule, physical
violence, disease, and
starvation.
• Her traditional society is now
in ruins as many of people
were massacred or forcibly
removed from their ancestral
land.
• In 2004, an Aboriginal man
named Cameron Doomadgee
died in police custody on
Palm Island.
10. The Gender Essay
• Things that were done well
• Over all good spelling and grammar.
• Good essay structure.
• Great observational skills.
• Good interpretations.
• Things that need improvement
• Answering the question and staying on track, as well as linking
back to the question.
• Spelling of artist’s names.
• Reliable resources.
• Referencing artworks, artists and sources correctly.
• Making informed and educated links with strong justifications.
11. Practice Essay
• We’ll be writing an essay together in
class, writing a paragraph or two each lesson.
• Breaking down the process, and focusing on
referencing and making justified arguments.
• All answering the same question using the
same resources.
12. New Rule for Essays
• Exactly a week before it is due, you must have
a draft copy Emailed to me as a .doc/.docx/.pdf
file.
• This will make sure no one leaves any written
assessments to the last second and each of
you gets some feedback to get the best
possible score.
• Eg. If the Assessment is due on Week
10, Wednesday, you must have a full draft of the
essay emailed to me on Wednesday of Week 9.
