T H E E D G E O F T R E E S

H H H

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T H E A N N I H I L A T I O N O F T H E B L A C K S

Fiona Foley

The Edge of Trees

The Edge of Trees

The name of the sculpture comes from an essay by historian Rhys Jones „Ordering the Landscape‟ in I & T Donaldson‟s Seeing the First Australians, Sydney 1985:

“… The „discoverers‟ struggling through the surf were met on the beaches by other people looking at them from the edge of the trees. Thus the same landscape perceived by the newcomers as alien, hostile or having no coherent form, was to the indigenous people their home, a familiar place, the inspiration of dreams.”

The Edge of Trees

The Edge of Trees

The Edge of Trees

The Edge of Trees

The Edge of Trees

The Significance of Materials

What are the materials used?

What do or can they represent conceptually?

Why is the shape and texture of these materials important?

HHH

HHH

HHH

HHH

HHH stands for the “Hedonistic Honky Haters”

Role reversal of black African Americans on the KKK or Ku Klux Klan, that were an anonymous group of racists that were responsible for the murder of many, many African Americans.

Traditional tribal African textiles designs make the work appear beautiful, inviting.

Foley is included in the work, arms folded in the front.

A subversive response to American racial politics while in New York.

HHH

Questions

How is Foley „inverting‟ racism in HHH?

Identify and discuss how Foley uses humour in HHH to convey the political subject matter.

Think upon the text „To Kill A Mockingbird‟ and how race relations have been explored. How does Foley investigate these ideas in the HHH series?

The Annihilation of the Blacks

The Annihilation of the Blacks

The arrangement of the structure from which the black figure hang by their necks, is similar to that of a traditional shelter.

It is visually similar to the public ceremonial sculptures such as Bonefish Story Place (1994) by Arthur Koo-Ekka Pambegan Junior.

The physical appearance of the „doll‟ like figures, is appropriated from a traditional sculptural form found in Cape York.

The Annihilation of the Blacks

Relates to the Susan River massacres, a tributary of the Mary River, the story of which was pass on as Badtjala oral history to Foley‟s Mother as a child.

The work was created and purchased by the National Museum of Australia when Foley was still a student.

The timing of the work, also suggests issues of deaths in custody.

Foley‟s reference to a traditional sculptural form, which suggests abundance, wealth and prosperity, then cause the audience to consider that non-Indigenous Australia relies on the destruction of Aboriginal society.