Indigenous art as decolonising truth-telling: Battle Mountain Memorial

Abstract

This article discusses the potential of Indigenous art as epistemic decolonial truth-telling regarding any future possibility of transitional justice. When practised in a manner that is attentive to Indigenous knowledges and methodologies, works of art can engage audience members with sensual and symbolic forms that elicit reflection, understanding, engagement and conversations complementing written and spoken communication. Through the painting Battle Mountain Memorial (2022) by Kalkatungu artist and co-author Ricky Emmerton, the authors explore how Indigenous art can subtly express profound truths regarding the misuse of colonial power. Through removing the shroud of silence in retelling the incident of the massacre of Kalkatungu people at Battle Mountain in 1884, this artwork is presented as a form of truth-telling, ensuring these events and truths are not overlooked or supplanted. Thus, this article contributes to discussions on interdisciplinary methodologies that incorporate Indigenous and non-Indigenous research methods, and on the interaction of visual, written and oral knowledges.