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The white ghosts sailed in 2017

Artwork has not been digitised or not available due to pending copyright clearence, thus not currently available online
Accession No.
2023.011a-f
Date Created
2017
Gallery location
Not on public display
Department
Contemporary Australian Art
Dimensions A
245 x 416.5 x 7cm
Media Category
Installation
Medium
Single-channel HD video projection: 2:00 minutes, colour, sound, 16:9; tea-stained cotton calico; burnt wood
Place Created
Sydney
Credit Line
Gift of Dr Paul Eliadis AM through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation 2023. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The white ghosts sailed in is a speculative artwork made to appear like an old film with scratches and burns; at times the simulated decay completely obliterates the image. Artist Tracey Moffatt imagines the film as having been made by Australian Indigenous people on 26 January 1788, capturing views of Sydney Harbour. The soundtrack features marching drums and crying babies, implying that the British invasion is taking place off screen. With this hypothetical historical document, Moffatt asks viewers to imagine what it was like for Indigenous Australians on the day that the British violently laid claim to their land. 
 

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Tracey Moffatt: The white ghosts sailed in

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