Life in the Indigenous communities of Utopia in the Northern Territory is revealed in 'Homelands', a photographic exhibition that opened this week in Sydney's south-western suburbs.
Amnesty International partnered with the Alyawarr and Anmatyerr communities to curate the exhibition, which forms part of a campaign by the human rights group over the Federal Government's 'intervention'.
SBS spoke to Sarah Marland, Amnesty International's National Indigenous Rights campaigner, and Ken Welsh, of the NSW Demand Dignity group, about the exhibition, which is on display at Campsie Library.
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Q: How did this exhibition come about?
A: The exhibition is only one facet of an ongoing campaign that we have partnered up with Alywarr and Anmatyerr communities in Northern Territory for about four years now.
I co-authored a report called 'The land that holds us' released in August last year that highlighted the positive and negative aspects of living in Utopia.
With community consent and consultations that took many months a viable partnership was formed.
We met with key elders who took our ideas back to members within their communities.
Amnesty International gave them a platform to tell their stories in their voices and their concerns as well.
We facilitated elders from Utopia to meet with members of government such as Jenny Macklin, Warren Snowdon and other committee members from the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs.
Q: What changes have you seen since the intervention and the situation at the moment?
A: I was just there two weeks ago and there has been a massive shift even in the terminology when dealing with government bureaucrats in acknowledging the term 'homelands' as traditional lands of Aboriginal people.
We also recently saw a $221 million commitment by the federal government after it came to an impasse with the Northern Territory government last year regarding funding basic services.
We are advocating for more but this has been a good win for the community.
Apart from that, our presence has also fostered a sense of building skills for advocacy undertaken by these communities themselves.
However, there have been issues of transparency because of income management when it came to rent for example where $1 million was not distributed equitably into the community and with our efforts of lobbying it has gone back in providing valuable employment and maintenance of houses.
This is symptomatic of government funding where it is distributed only to 20 towns leaving many Aboriginal people disenfranchised socioeconomically.
About 35% of Aboriginal people live in homelands in NT and our role is to facilitate communities taking autonomous actions and ensuring their sovereignty in their dealings with Canberra.
Q: Ken, what are you hoping for with this exhibition?
A: Hardly anyone knows what the terrain, geography and beauty of Utopia looks like.
I identify with the rights of people to have flexibility in their lifestyle and their spiritual beliefs to be respected by living on their homelands.
This exhibition allows us to tell the stories of Alyawarr and Anmatyerr Peoples in their voices.
It shows how they live, their spiritual connection to country, how families are safer and healthier living together in traditional spaces.
Elders talk about how strong their culture and language is strong and thriving.
It gives an insight into things such as bush medicine and song-lines.
Ultimately, it's about raising awareness about Central Australia for people in the east eoast, even here in Campsie.
The exhibition will run until May 14 at Campsie Library.
