Blood Money Currency Exchange Terminal

Tooba Anwar

doi:10.5130/nesais.v5i1.1567

Abstract

Blood Money Currency Exchange Terminal by artist, Ryan Presley, is an exhibition that displays Australian dollars notes appropriated and revamped to have Aboriginal warriors as the faces of currency. The large prints have taken about 2-3 months each to complete and are made with mixed classical mediums (watercolour and oil paint). This exhibition raised important queries, it raised the obvious point that why First Nations People’s heroes are not on Australian currency, instead of those colonisers. First Nations People are rarely commemorated on money. The stories of poets, land rights pioneers and freedom fighters should be textbook history but unfortunately aren’t something that we lean in our school curriculum. These pieces are important in the way that they subvert mainstream history and reach out beyond dead history to a living history.

Highlights

There is great importance in unpacking a culture which has continued to exist in the face of unprecedented despotism
To each note is a biography of the subject of the dollar note and their tale of resistance
Within the intricacies of the background pattern Presley has incorporated shells that would be used for Jewellery, Tomeginee woven textiles and Black swans which juxtapose European ships and firearms. This gives a very real visual representation of the reality of the history wars. Within this illustration of blood money wealth, it highlights the tale of resistance, and challenges the hegemony of invented Australian traditions; traditions that celebrate the Banjo Pattersons of previous times and the so-called Australian dream

Summary

Introduction

There is great importance in unpacking a culture which has continued to exist in the face of unprecedented despotism. The 20-dollar note depicts Aboriginal warrior and fighter Woloa. She went on to use her knowledge to lead many resistance fighters to attack and raid colonial settlements, earning her a reputation of ‘The Amazon’ among settlers at the time.

Results

Conclusion