Producer unknown to us
T-Shirt
Australia, Queensland
Around 1987
Cotton
Birgit Scheps (Curator for Australia) acquired this shirt in 1987, during a study trip to Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand
Donated to the museum by Scheps in 1987
Au 4118
This shirt shows the symbol of the North Queensland Council (Aboriginal land rights movement).
The shirt front presents a depiction of a First Australian waving a flag with the inscription “North Queensland Council,” on the right, a spear and Queensland-style shield, and in the background, the outline of the Queensland map. The shirt’s backside reads “Fight for Aboriginal Rights.” The shirt is made of yellow cotton, with black and red prints (type and contours). These are the colors of the Australian land rights movement. Birgit Scheps, currently curator for Australia and the Pacific at Leipzig, acquired this shirt during a study trip in 1987.
In 1988, Australia commemorated the 200-year anniversary of its founding as a British colony that later became the Federation of Australian States. However, the Indigenous population had no reason to celebrate, and used the “Bicentenary” to protest racism, injustice, and discrimination against First Australians, and, most importantly, to demand their traditional land rights.
For the first time, these protests also reached a wide international audience.
Birgit Scheps-Bretschneider