NAIDOC this year celebrates voice, treaty and truth, so we are looking back (to look forward) at the Redfern of the 60’s and 70’s when it became the centre for Aboriginal self-determination. Regent Street originally housed the first Aboriginal Legal Service, Medical Service, black trade unions, black theatres, pubs that ignored the bans on blackfellas drinking and a host of other small enterprises that served the community.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT
NAIDOC 2019
Featuring
Sol Bellear
Bob Bellear
This show pays tribute to the organisations that shaped this place, and its people; it’s long, bruising fights and hard-won victories. In our STREETSPACE we pay homage to social activists Sol Bellear and Bob Bellear. Standing regal at The Clifton Hotel, a bar where Aboriginal people had been refused service on 17 July 1973, this archival photograph tells a story of denial, discrimination and self-determination that took place just a few doors down from where we stand on Regent Street.
On the TAXIDERMY T.V plays documentary footage, harking back to Redfern’s past. In the CURIOSITY CABINET new limited edition Tit merch is vying for you to take it home! Join us at FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT this NAIDOC week in acknowledging and celebrating those integral to Redfern's Indigenous past, present and future.
*** Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander audiences are advised that this exhibition contains images and voices of people who have died. The story of Aboriginal Sydney could not be told without recognising their achievements. In some Aboriginal communities, seeing the names and photographs of dead people may cause sadness and distress, particularly to relatives of those people. Where possible, The Bearded Tit has sought permission to reproduce these images and stories from the families of those pictured.
Image credit: Photograph by John Pinfold, 1972, reproduced here courtesy of The Sydney Morning Herald.
