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                    John Patten – Remembering

                    Artwork on hoarding of city construction site depicting William Barak
                    Rich with colour and historical meaning, 'Remembering' by John Patten spotlights significant figures from Victorian Aboriginal history.

                    ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The artwork features profiles of Elders from the late 19th century through to the 1930s: Simon Wonga, Geraldine Briggs, Jack Patten, George Patten, Bill Onus, Margaret Tucker and William Barak who were instrumental in the push for civil rights in Australia and attained various important achievements across many fields.

                    The background pattern of lozenges (or diamonds) is a motif found commonly in many traditional Koori artworks in Victoria. The vibrant colour palette shows that contemporary Aboriginal art is not limited to earth tones.

                    This artwork is part of our Creative Hoardings Trial​. The 12-month opt-in trial works collaboratively with local artists and developers to transform construction sites into vibrant creative spaces, adding colour and storytelling to Melbourne’s streets.

                    About the artist​​​​​

                    ​​J​​​ohn Patten is a Yorta Yorta and Bundjalung man, historian, cultural educator, writer, and artist. He creates his artworks in many mediums, including traditional ​ochre and bark, film, animation, digital illustration, large resin and steel public sculptures, and oil portraits.

                    His work is held in collections including Melbourne Museum, Grafton Regional Gallery, Hume Council, and his animated light projections have recently featured on Richmond and Geelong Town Halls and at the Winter Lights Festival in Broadmeadows. Visit the Patten Project website​ for more information about the artist.​

                    Biographies of the activists featured in this artwork

                    Margaret Tucker, Yorta Yorta & Wiradjuri (1904-1966)

                    A lifelong civil rights campaigner, Margaret Tucker (nee Clements) was a Yorta Yorta (Dhulinyagan) woman born at Warrangesda Mission on the Murrumbidgee River in New South Wales in 1904.  

                    At the age of 12, Margaret became a member of the Stolen Generations, and was sent to the Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls.  

                    In 1932 she helped form the Victorian-based Australian Aborigines League, serving as the organisation’s treasurer. 

                    In 1964 Margaret Tucker became the first Koori woman appointed to the Aborigines Welfare Board (Victoria). 

                    In 1970, Margaret Tucker joined the Victorian Aboriginal and Islander Women’s Council, which had been founded in that year by Margaret’s sister, Geraldine Briggs. Through the leadership of both sisters, the organisation would blossom into becoming the nationally focused United Council of Aboriginal and Islander Women in 1972. 

                    In 1977 Margaret’s life story was published as the book If Everyone Cared, the first autobiography written by an Aboriginal person. 

                    For more information visit the Koori History website.

                    Simon Wonga, Wurundjeri (1824-1874)

                    ​One of Victoria’s lesser-known heroes, Wurundjeri Ngurungaeta (head man) Simon Wonga, is an important figure in Koori history for his work as both a statesman and community builder. 

                    As Koori people were slowly being pushed to the fringes of their own Country, Simon Wonga acted first as an intermediary for the Taungerong, as they negotiated with government for some of their land to be returned, and later as the primary negotiator, in speaking on behalf of the Wurundjeri, Taungerong, Boonwurrung and other Koori people who had been displaced from their own Countries. His vision was to build a self-sustained home for his people.  

                    Wonga founded the Coranderrk Aboriginal Station near Healesville in 1863. He oversaw its growth and rising prosperity in the face of many challenges from non-Indigenous squatters and their allies in the Aborigines Protection Board.  

                    In 1874 Simon Wonga died and his leadership role was passed on to his cousin, William Barak.

                    William ‘Bill’ Onus, Yorta Yorta & Wiradjuri (1906-1968)

                    ​Bill Onus was a renaissance man; a talented artist, community leader and civil rights activist, businessman, actor, vaudeville entertainer and filmmaker. Onus was an active advocate, always helping people to learn about his people and culture. 

                    In the 1930’s, Onus was a lieutenant to Jack Patten in the Aborigines Progressive Association, before leading the organisation from 1940 onward. He played a role in the 1938 Day of Mourning Conference, and in 1952 he founded Aboriginal Enterprise Novelties, a factory where he helped bring Aboriginal art into the mainstream. 

                    In 1967 Bill Onus was named the first President of the Aborigines Advancement League. In the same year he was also a major campaigner for the national referendum to count Aboriginal people as part of the population of Australia.

                    George Patten (1913-1958)

                    ​George Patten was a tireless campaigner for civil rights throughout the 1930s and 1940s. He was Secretary of the Australian Aborigines League and founder of the Aborigines Assistance Committee, which was created in an effort to support families who had taken part in the Cummeragunja Walk-Off, which Patten had guided, following the arrest of his brother, Jack Patten.

                    A gifted public speaker and leader, Patten also performed on stage, including a part in Catherine Duncan’s The Sword Sung. George Patten also served as a driver during WWII and raised a large family before dying in a sawmill accident in 1958.

                    Geraldine Briggs (1910-2005)

                    A resilient leader who was an early contributor to the Australian Aborigines League, Geraldine Briggs was a mainstay of the Australian civil rights struggle over the course of five decades. 

                    In 1938, Geraldine was part of a delegation who had taken part in the Day of Mourning conference at Australia Hall in Sydney. There they protested the conditions Aboriginal people were forced to endure in what was supposed to be a fair Australia. 

                    In 1939, Geraldine, her husband Selwyn Briggs and their family, were among those who departed Cummeragunja Aboriginal Station, never to return, due to the cruelty of the government-appointed overseer, Jack McQuiggan. This protest was one of the first major protests by Aboriginal people to gain major traction in the media. 

                    ​In 1958, Geraldine Briggs played a significant role in the newly established Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) and would go on to help build momentum for the 1967 referendum, to amend the Australian Constitution and include Aboriginal people in the national census.

                    William Barak (1823-1903)

                    William Barak was born into a tradition of leadership in a time before the first Europeans had begun their encroachment upon Wurundjeri-Woiwurrung territories. Barak was educated in his people's ancient traditions, pairing a knowledge of Aboriginal politics and diplomacy with the ways of the invaders. 

                    With his entire world under attack, Barak followed in the footsteps of his cousin, Simon Wonga, and became a leader of his people, continuing Wonga’s vision – building a home for Kulin and for those who had been dispossessed of their own traditional lands. 

                    ​William Barak was a leader who, despite great adversity, was able to forge a path for his people, which ensured a positive future for all Koori people in Victoria.

                    Jack Patten (1905-1957)

                    An Australian Aboriginal leader, professional boxer, journalist and civil rights activist, Jack Patten led an extraordinary and adventurous life. 

                    ​Gifted as a public speaker and writer, Patten was President and co-founder of the national Aborigines Progressive Association, and in 1938 wrote, printed, edited and published the first widely distributed Aboriginal newspaper. 

                    In 1938 Patten chaired the Day of Mourning conference, protesting the non-Indigenous domination of his people, and later led a delegation to present a manifesto, co-authored with William Ferguson, to Prime Minister Joseph Lyons. 

                    In 1939, Patten led the exodus which would later be known as the Cummeragunja Walk-Off. Over 200 people left their homes, never to return, protesting the conditions they were being forced to live in. For his efforts, Patten was arrested for having ‘incited Aborigines’ and was labelled a Nazi agent in the media. Later in 1939 Patten signed up for active service and shipped out to the Middle East. Following his return from the war, Patten remained politically active, protesting atomic testing in South Australia, and rallying against the persecution of his people wherever he found it. 
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