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A pirate Captain Cook and his own head in a jar: the subversive satire of Daniel Boyd
Ahead of a career-spanning exhibition, the Indigenous Australian artist talks about his family story, Black Lives Matter and why he is inspired by an Aboriginal warrior who took on the invading Britons
Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email and listen to our podcastThe stories of Aboriginal warriors who fought British colonisation, among them Windradyne, Yagan and Jandamarra, provide cultural affirmation for many Indigenous Australians. For the artist Daniel Boyd, it was Pemulwuy, the Bidjigal clan man who led a long guerrilla war that began shortly after the arrival of the First Fleet, who became a personal source of strength.
“He was one of the first visible people to lead the resistance against the colony,” says Boyd, a 40-year-old Kudjala, Gangalu, Wangerriburra, Wakka Wakka, Gubbi Gubbi, Kuku Yalanji and Bundjalung man with ni-Vanuatu heritage. The Sydney-based artist is preparing to open his first major career survey, Treasure Island, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. We’re seated in his industrial studio in Marrickville; his partner, the “retired artist” Belle Charter, and their four-year-old daughter – the youngest of four children – have dropped by to bring him a morning coffee.
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