Alley Cat Allies Investigates Brutal Cat Massacre by Australian Port [Documentary Video Included]

Alley Cat Allies Investigates Brutal Cat Massacre by Australian Port: Port of Newcastle (Screengrab)

Alley Cat Allies has launched a special investigation into a ghastly mass-shooting of feral cats, also called community cats, directed by the Port of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, that left at least 12 cats dead, maimed or missing. Becky Robinson, the president and founder of Alley Cat Allies, is calling on the Port's leadership to immediately end all killing and instead embrace humane, nonlethal management practices for cats.

"The Newcastle Port Authority called this a 'cull,' but there is no whitewashing the fact that this was a massacre, plain and simple," Robinson said. "Cats are sentient creatures who feel pain, and the cats who were the victims of this late-night hunt by the Port Authority endured horrific injuries and tremendous suffering. Killing cats does not have a rightful place in conservation strategy. The Port Authority must stop shooting and killing cats and needs to make a public commitment that it will never happen again. We demand that they adopt sane, humane, effective methods centered on spay and neuter, also known as desexing."

Alley Cat Allies, in collaboration with supporters in Australia and the Animal Justice Party of Australia, learned that the Newcastle Port Authority hired a contract killer to hunt down and shoot sterilized cats at the Stockton Breakwall, a public beach jetty, in December 2020. The next morning, devastated caregivers for the cats discovered a bloody, disturbing scene.

Alley Cat Allies Investigates Brutal Cat Massacre by Australian Port (Screengrab)

• One cat, Rosie, was shot in the eye. The attack left another cat, Lily, blind and with a hernia. As many as eight cats are missing and presumed killed. Some surviving cats still suffer from their gunshot wounds as caregivers scramble to trap them. The caregivers and local veterinarians have grave concerns that these powerless, wounded cats remain in danger.

The Port Authority's attack came despite the fact that the cats were sterilized, vaccinated and cared for through a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program practiced by compassionate caregivers. TNR successfully reduced the number of cats at the Port from 100 to approximately 40 in recent years. These caregivers were neither warned about the hunt nor told that the Port took issue with community cats in the area to begin with.

Alley Cat Allies Investigates Brutal Cat Massacre by Australian Port (Screengrab)

• Killing cats is not an effective means of population control because of a well-documented scientific phenomenon known as the Vacuum Effect. When cats are killed, new cats move in to take their place.

"The Port's actions serve as a reminder that in far too many places around the world, including in Australia and the United States, there persists an archaic mindset that killing cats is viable and necessary," Robinson continued. "Humane, nonlethal sterilization is being utilized all over the globe because it works. Killing does not work. The Newcastle Port Authority needs to wake up to the reality that hunting cats is not acceptable and join the rest of civilized society with a lifesaving policy for its cats."

The Alley Cat Allies investigation has prompted international condemnation of the Newcastle Port Authority's actions. Alley Cat Allies has posted a short documentary film with the findings from its investigation at alleycat.org/StocktonBreakwallCats, where it will continue to post more information from the case as it becomes available.

The Documentary:

About Alley Cat Allies:

Alley Cat Allies is the leader of a global movement to protect cats and kittens. Now in our 31st anniversary year, we are joined by more than 650,000 supporters worldwide.

Alley Cat Allies believes every cat deserves to live out his or her life to the fullest. We exposed an entrenched system in which animal control agencies and shelters have been killing millions of cats for over a century. Today, the programs we introduced in the United States are mainstream.

To achieve our goals, we collaborate with grassroots advocates, animal shelters, municipal managers, and lawmakers to replace deadly laws and policies with ones that protect cats. We defend all cats by offering cutting edge education online, in person, and through one-on-one dialogue. We advance lifesaving innovations such as Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) and Shelter-Neuter-Return (SNR), high-quality, high-volume spay and neuter, microchipping, anti-declawing legislation, and any program that best serves the interests of cats.

• Our website is www.alleycat.org, and we are active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

SOURCE: Alley Cat Allies

Secret Theatre Presents 'Redemption Room' - The Live Online Thriller Experience Makes its World Premiere on February 27th [Trailer Included]

"Redemption Room" World Premiere on February 27, 2021 - a new live online theatrical thriller experience

"With the world still locked down, Secret Theatre look to unite us all in a live, online, immersive horror experience that can be streamed from anywhere in the world. And we can't wait."-- BBC RADIO 1

Making its World Premiere on February 27th, Redemption Room is a new live online theatrical experience where the virtual-studio audience gets to judge six disgraced celebrities as they seek redemption for their societal crimes.

Presented by Secret Theatre, this original innovative experience will go live across the world in a Zoom studio from six major cities, including Hong Kong, London, Singapore, Mumbai, Sydney and New York, where the celebrities are located.

A truly immersive format, Redemption Room takes a thrilling twist after an evil entity is awakened into the proceedings. Who will survive? Who will get their redemption? The virtual-studio audience will decide, voting on how far to push the celebrity's fears. But be warned, every-night one audience member will be asked to compete along with the celebrities. The virtual experience allows audiences to vote, judge, contact the celebrities directly and impact their outcome.

To get the full theatrical experience, turn off the lights, light a candle and be prepared for the unexpected. For those with paranormal fears, please prepare accordingly. If Ouija boards are your taste, there will be a moment when you can get involved.

Also, wearing black can summon demons – you have been warned.

The Trailer:

Secret Theatre are pioneers in global immersive events and have produced shows in 7 cities across the globe. Redemption Room is created and directed by Richard Crawford, who has been Artistic Director of Secret Theatre for over 10 years with many immersive credits to his name. He was responsible for directing the immersive Edward Scissorhands in New York, the immersive Project Mayhem in London and Hong Kong, and the immersive Hell Hath No Fury in Singapore.

• Shows go live on February 27th and run through March 14th, 2021 and can be viewed on any device that supports Zoom.

• Screening dates and times vary across the US, including a special scary Midnight show (PST) on March 13th.

"Redemption Room" a new online immersive thriller experience goes live from 6 cities around the globe beginning February 27, 2021

Click here for tickets and listings in specific time zones

• For frequently asked questions: redemptionroom.org/how-it-works

• For further information visit: secrettheatres.com

SOURCE: Secret Theatre

90% Efficacy for Pfizer's COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine is Striking. But We Need to Wait for The Full Data

 90% Efficacy for Pfizer's COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine is Striking. But We Need to Wait for The Full Data (University of Maryland School of Medicine/AP/AAP)

German biotech company BioNTech and US pharmaceutical Pfizer announced on Monday promising early results from their phase 3 clinical trial for a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

These early results are what is known as an “interim analysis”. It’s an early look at the data before a study is complete, to understand if there is any indication of whether the vaccine might work.

Currently, this trial has enrolled 43,538 volunteers, giving half the volunteers two doses of the vaccine and the other half two doses of a placebo. These volunteers then continued their normal lives, but they were monitored for any symptoms that could be COVID-19, with testing to confirm.

Analysis of 94 volunteers with confirmed COVID-19 suggests the vaccine has an efficacy of over 90%.

This means that if you took ten people who were going to get sick from COVID-19 and vaccinated them, only one out of ten would now get sick.

Can we get excited yet?

There is more data to come. This is a press release and the data have not undergone “peer-review” through scientific publication, although it has been assessed by an independent monitoring board. The study also won’t be complete until 164 volunteers have confirmed COVID-19, and the estimate of efficacy may therefore change. Finally, the volunteers must be monitored for a defined period of time after vaccination for any side effects and this must be completed.

Important questions also remain. It’s unclear how long protection will last, as this study has only been underway for three months. It’s unclear if this vaccine protects against severe disease or if this vaccine will work equally well in everyone. For example, a phase 1 clinical trial with this vaccine showed that immune responses were lower in older people.

90% efficacy would be far higher than the FDA’s threshold of 50%, and greater than that of many flu vaccines, which tend to provide around 60%. (Virginia Mayo/AP/AAP)

But 90% efficacy is striking. To give some context, the US Food and Drug Administration indicated they would licence a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine with 50% efficacy. The flu vaccine often provides around 60% efficacy and the mumps vaccine, which is currently the fastest vaccine ever made at four years, provides around 88% efficacy.

The BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine could outstrip that, after just nine months of development. This level of efficacy means virus transmission could be very effectively controlled.

That has the research community excited. It bodes well for other vaccines currently being tested for SARS-CoV-2 and we could end up with multiple successful vaccines. This would be great because some might work better in certain populations, like older people.

Multiple vaccines could also be manufactured using a broad range of established infrastructure, which would accelerate vaccine distribution.

Producing mRNA on a commercial scale

The BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine is what’s called an mRNA vaccine.

As this article by Associate Professor Archa Fox, an expert on molecular cell biology from the University of Western Australia, explains:

mRNA vaccines are coated molecules of mRNA, similar to DNA, that carry the instructions for making a viral protein.

After injection into muscle, the mRNA is taken up by cells. Ribosomes, the cell’s protein factories, read the mRNA instructions and make the viral protein. These new proteins are exported from cells and the rest of the immunisation process is identical to other vaccines: our immune system mounts a response by recognising the proteins as foreign and developing antibodies against them.

A problem for Australia is that it can’t make mRNA vaccines onshore yet.

The Australian government has an agreement for ten million doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine. Since this vaccine requires two doses, this agreement is sufficient for five million Australians. It’s unclear how long it will take until any vaccine is widely available, but we may hear more about this in the coming weeks and months.

The vaccine requires storage at a temperature below -60℃. This will certainly be a challenge for shipping to Australia and local distribution, although not impossible. One solution to this problem is to form vaccination centres to roll out the vaccine once it becomes available. In a briefing by Pfizer, the company said it will use ultra-low temperature shipment strategies and the vaccine can then be distributed on “dry-ice”.

Currently, Australia has no capacity to produce mRNA on a commercial scale given the technology’s novelty. But we (the authors) and others have been working to coordinate and build the manufacturing capacity in Australia for future mRNA vaccine and therapeutics. With financial support aimed at private-public mRNA manufacturing collaboration, Australia can equip itself with this vital technological asset.

About Today's Contributors:

Harry Al-Wassiti, Bioengineer and Research Fellow, Monash University; Colin Pouton, Professor of Pharmaceutical Biology, Monash University, and Kylie Quinn, Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellow, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Klarna and Universal Music Keep Track of Australia's Lockdown Buying Habits with Pop Parody [Video Included]

Klarna and Universal Music Keep Track of Australia's Lockdown Buying Habits with Pop Parody

To encourage the entire country to buy only the things we really love and actually need, Klarna, in partnership with Universal Music Australia's creative agency BRING, has today released a parody music video about Australia's online shopping habits during lockdown.

Starring local favourites, The Inspired Unemployed, musicians Thandi Phoenix and Tuka, Get What I Love shines a big pink spotlight on all the things we've been buying, but never knew we really needed...hello Tiger King g-string!

An original R'n'B flavoured pop song which was written collaboratively over Zoom, Get What I Love is about finding fun ways to make use of the stuff we've bought during isolation, that in a different world may not have been added to our cart.

Klarna talks to shoppers on their terms and creates services, experiences and content which are very different from what people expect from a brand in the fintech, finance or banking space.

The pop parody allows Klarna to extend its support of local retailers to emerging homegrown artists in what is a tough time for the Australian entertainment industry.

Andrea Darling, Klarna's Head of Marketing for Australia and New Zealand says:"We are so excited about this collaboration and working with such amazing Australian talent. Klarna is all about the consumer experience and inviting customers into our world. This music video clip illustrates perfectly how we do things differently and in a fun way. It's time for a new kind of shopping service that is genuinely interested in its customer and fits with their lifestyle."

From swapping high heels for Uggs, buying bread makers to bake that insta-worthy sourdough, to grabbing the latest thigh master to tone that at-home bod, the video takes a light-hearted look at how our needs changed during COVID-19.

Klarna and Universal Music Keep Track of Australia's Lockdown Buying Habits with Pop Parody

The music clip focuses on two flatmates (The Inspired Unemployed) stuck in lockdown in a studio style apartment. Each 'week' a new purchase is delivered to their door thanks to the simple shopping experience of Klarna. As time passes, our two stars continue to make use of the items delivered, sometimes in unexpected ways.

The Inspired Unemployed says: "This partnership with Klarna was an absolute pleasure to work on and it was truly a team effort to bring the vision to life with incredible creatives like Tuka and Thandi Phoenix, who we learnt a lot from. We are thrilled to see this project come to life after weeks of collaboration and we really hope Australians find it relatable, fun and entertaining and that it also serves as a reminder of the once in a lifetime lockdown experience."

Thandi Phoenix says:"I had a such a good time working on this project for Klarna during lockdown. It was really nice to be able to collaborate with different creatives on this song and being able to make fun of some of the activities we've all been doing during isolation."

Tuka says:"This project definitely saved me from the insane level of boredom we all experienced in lockdown. Thanks for getting me on board, Klarna has been a great brand to work with."

Official Music Video:

SOURCE: Klarna

Ruckify Launches T-Shirt Fundraiser To Help Support The Australian Wildfire Relief Efforts

The 'Support Australia' t-shirts from Ruckify have a list of organisations you can help during and after the bushfire crisis (image via Ruckify.com)

Ruckify, the global peer-to-peer marketplace for all things rentals, has launched a t-shirt fundraising campaign to support those affected by the devastating Australian bushfires.

The shirts, which will be available on a dedicated RuckifyStore, list a number of organisations people can donate to both during and after the fire crisis that has devastated communities and destroyed large tracts of wilderness in recent months.

All proceeds will be donated to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) for firefighting equipment and training as Australia's bushfire season continues, while anyone who purchases a shirt will receive $5 off a Ruckify rental of their choice.

The idea and design for the shirts came from Ruckify staff, after a company-wide conversation about feelings of helplessness as news of the disaster flowed in.

Ruckify founder and CEO Steve Cody said staff had helped communities inundated near the company's headquarters during the Ottawa River floods in April 2019, and wanted to find a way to lend support to others in need on the other side of the world.

"Since Ruckify's founding two years ago, community, environmentalism, and sustainability have been at the heart of our values," Mr Cody said. "These fires have dealt a blow to the Australian people, and the environment, that will be felt for years to come.

These disasters affect us all, and will continue to do so as the effects of climate change become more apparent. Australians help North Americans every year with funding and resources during wildfire season, and we want to contribute in any way we can."

The fundraising campaign complements Ruckify's ongoing TreeProject, the company's commitment to plant a tree for every sign-up, transaction, and review at ruckify.com.

"It's time for all of us to step up and acknowledge the status quo will no longer work in the face of climate change and the resulting natural disasters," Mr Cody said.

Through both our shirt fundraising campaign and TreeProject campaign, we want to be part of the solution."

The front and back of the Ruckify 'Support Australia' shirts (CNW Group/Ruckify)

• Those interested in the $30 shirts can order them at the dedicated RuckifyStore, where they will be shipped for free.

About Ruckify

Ruckify is the world's largest online peer-to-peer rental marketplace, empowering its members to embrace the sharing economy and leave unnecessary purchases behind. Designed with both people and businesses in mind, anyone can post their items and spaces on Ruckify for people in their community to rent. 

Founded in Ottawa, Canada in 2018 on a foundation of community building, environmentalism, education, and freedom, Ruckify is dedicated to changing the world and curtailing the spread of unsustainable consumerism. 

The platform has also launched TreeProject, a commitment from Ruckify to plant a tree for every transaction made on the app. 

The Ruckify Tree Project (image via Ruckify.com)

SOURCE: Ruckify

#Matesong: Australia's Pop Icon Kylie Minogue Invites Brits Down Under [Video Included]

Tourism Australia’s ‘Matesong’ campaign featuring Kylie Minogue (Photo Credit: Nicole Bentley. Location: Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, Australia)

Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue has delivered a special musical Christmas Day message to the UK as part of Tourism Australia's latest campaign aimed at enticing more Brits down under.

With original lyrics written by Australian singer-songwriter Eddie Perfect and filmed against a backdrop of extraordinary Australian locations, the three-minute advert premiered on British TV as millions tuned in for the Queen's annual Christmas address.

The first overseas activation of its recently launched Philausophy campaign, Matesong is the largest investment that Tourism Australia has made in the UK in more than a decade.

"At a time of uncertainty in the UK, the light-hearted Matesong musical tribute is a symbolic hand of friendship from Australia, that celebrates the deep and longstanding ties that exist between the two countries."

Helping Kylie deliver the musical tribute is Australian comedian and TV presenter Adam Hills, supported by cameo appearances from Australian sporting legends Shane Warne, Ash Barty and Ian Thorpe; model twins Zac and Jordan Stenmark; UK-born chef Darren Robertson from Three Blue Ducks and the Aboriginal Comedy Allstars.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said that Christmas Day presented the perfect opportunity to capture the attention of millions of Brits.

"The Queen's annual Christmas speech is a key cultural moment in the UK, with millions tuning in to watch on television and many more online.

We also know that January in the northern hemisphere winter is a time when many Brits are thinking about an overseas holiday, providing the perfect opportunity to engage with a captive audience and remind them why they should make that next trip Australia," Ms Harrison said.

Kylie said it was an honour to work alongside Tourism Australia to share Australia with people from her adopted UK home.

"Filming the Matesong music video was literally a dream come true. I've had the opportunity to see parts of the country I haven't seen before, as well as to go home and revisit places that I know are beautiful.

I'm such a proud Australian that I've spent most of my life travelling around the world sharing my stories of Australia with anyone who would listen, so I kind of feel like a walking tourism advert for Australia already."

Tourism Australia’s ‘Matesong’ campaign featuring Kylie Minogue (Photo Credit: Nicole Bentley. Location: Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, Australia)

• The campaign will continue to run on British television and in cinemas, across digital and social platforms, and through out of home advertising.

SOURCE: Tourism Australia

Australia Commits to Join NASA in Lunar Exploration and Beyond

Moon to Mars: "Gateway" - Poster (image via NASA)

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced his nation's intention to join the United States' Moon to Mars exploration approach, including NASA's Artemis lunar program.

The announcement took place at a ceremony Saturday at NASA Headquarters in Washington during which NASA Deputy Administrator, Jim Morhard, and Head of the Australian Space Agency, Megan Clark, signed a joint statement of intent. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Australian Ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey and U.S. Ambassador to Australia Arthur Culvahouse Jr. also participated in the ceremony.

The statement foresees potential Australian contributions in areas of mutual interest such as robotics, automation, and remote asset management – similar to that currently used by Australia in mining operations – and builds on a unique history of space cooperation between the U.S. and Australia that dates back to the Apollo era. 

Moon to Mars: "Moon" - Poster (image via NASA)

As part of Australia's commitment to partner with NASA, Morrison pledged to more than triple the Australian Space Agency budget to support Artemis and Moon to Mars.

"We are honored by today's statement and the commitment of our friends from Australia to support us in our mission to return to the Moon by 2024 with the Artemis program," Morhard said. "The strong relationship between NASA and the Australian Space Agency affirms NASA's commitment to establish sustainable exploration with our commercial and international partners by 2028."

Although the Australian Space Agency is relatively new, established a little over a year ago, Australia has a long tradition of working closely with the U.S. in space activities. A formal agreement between NASA and the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) signed in 1960 allows for tracking and communication of NASA missions through the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) at Tidbinbilla, as well as the Data Relay Satellite facilities in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, and Dongara, Western Australia. The CDSCC serves as an integral component of NASA's Deep Space Network.

In August, the Mars 2020 and ExoMars rover science teams honed their skills in the Australian Outback, where the rocks are of similar age to the terranes on Mars, in preparation for their respective missions to launch to the Red Planet next summer in search of signs of past life on Mars.

Saturday's joint statement strengthens the relationship between Australia and the U.S. and broadens the community of nations joining NASA in further exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Through Artemis, NASA will send the first woman and next man to the surface of the Moon by 2024, and establish sustainable exploration with its commercial and international partners by 2028. NASA's Artemis program is the next step in human exploration and is a part of America's broader Moon to Mars exploration approach.

Moon to Mars: "Mars" - Poster (image via NASA)

SOURCE: NASA

Related Video:

Tony Albert’s Politically Charged Kitsch Collection Confronts Australia's Racist Past

Tony Albert Girramay/Yidinji/Kuku Yalanji peoples. Australia Qld/NSW b.1981. Mid Century Modern (series) 2016. Pigment prints | 24 works: 100 x 100cm (each) (Collection: The artist. Courtesy: Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney)

The collector dreams his way not only into a distant or bygone world but also into a better one.

-Walter Benjamin, The Arcades Project.

Seeking exile from the growing anti-Semitism in his native Germany, author Walter Benjamin’s words are just as relevant today as they were when he wrote them in the early 1930s. Living in Paris, Benjamin loved rifling through what he saw as capitalism’s ruins in the fusty and out-dated 19th-century arcades, delighting in the mass-produced detritus that he found in secondhand shops. Freed from what he described as the “drudgery” of being useful, Benjamin’s objects were transformed by the act of collecting and acquired a quasi-magical status.

Tony Albert. Girramay/Yidinji/Kuku Yalanji peoples Australia Qld/NSW b.1981 Child Riding Kangaroo (from ‘Mid Century Modern’ series) 2016 Pigment print on paper 100 x 100cm (Collection: The artist. Courtesy: Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney)

Like Benjamin, Tony Albert is the quintessential collector. A descendent of the Girramay, Yidinji and Kuku Yalanji people, he has carefully scoured thrift shops for what he calls “Aboriginalia”: the kitsch caricatures of Indigenous people adorning trays, tea towels, playing cards, spoons and even pinball machines from the 1940s to the 1970s. Albert reassembles these vintage objects, creating poignant displays of memorabilia. Each individual object contains its own memories and stories. In this way, Albert holds a mirror up to our own collective memory and reminds us that this is the stuff, the matter, that forms the substrata of contemporary Australia.

To place collective memory under scrutiny is not easy and hence the significance of Albert’s new survey exhibition, Visible, at Brisbane’s Queensland Art Gallery. It was the conspicuous absence of Indigenous representation in visual culture that initially drew Albert as a child to secondhand shops in the 1980s.

By making the invisible visible, Albert stages a direct confrontation with Australia’s difficult and racist not-so-distant past. Akin to Benjamin’s quirky assortments of stamps and snow domes, new meanings are acquired through Albert’s reassembling of disparate objects into a collection. What comes to the fore in the show is how deftly he traverses mediums, moving from his iconic text-based assemblages of the 2000s to photography, installation and newly commissioned sculptural work.

Mid Century Modern is a 2016 series continuing Albert’s reactivation of kitsch memorabilia. He has carefully arranged a series of ashtrays in a grid-like formation. His trademark sense of humour and playfulness is on display here. His point, however, is deadly serious: what does it mean to stub a cigarette out on a black face? It is this tension between the absurd and serious, visible and invisible that prevents his work from slipping into a predictable monotony.

Collaboration is a core theme that runs through Albert’s practice. Consider, for example Moving Targets 2015, the result of a collaboration with Stephen Page, the Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre. Taking its departure point from a 2012 police shooting of two Aboriginal teenagers in Sydney’s King’s Cross, the multimedia installation is comprised of a stripped out, dilapidated car. Inside the car are screens and the viewer is invited to contemplate the final moments of the boys’ joyride as Bangarra’s Beau Dean Riley Smith dances with increasing agitation and intensity.

Tony Albert, David C Collins and Lucy Lewis Warakurna – The Force is with us #1 2017 Archival pigment print, ed. of 3 + 2 AP. 100 x 150cm (Collection: The artist. Courtesy: Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney)

The notion of giving back to community permeates Albert’s recent work. Newer projects, such as his collaboration with the children of the Warakurna Arts Community feature alongside some of his most recognisable collaborative projects such as Pay Attention 2009-2010. In the series Warakurna—The Force is with us (2017), Albert handed over artistic direction to Warakurna’s children who were charged with the responsibility of creating costumes and identifying set locations. Finally, all sales of the ensuing photographic series were shared equally amongst all parties.

Tony Albert. Girramay/Yidinji/Kuku Yalanji peoples Australia Qld/NSW b.1981 Sorry 2008 Found kitsch objects applied to vinyl letters 99 objects: 200 x 510 x 10cm (installed) (The James C. Sourris Collection. Purchased 2008 with funds from James C. Sourris through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Collection: Queensland Art Gallery)

Some of Albert’s works have gained a potent political urgency since their original creation. Sorry 2008 was a key installation in the Queensland Art Gallery’s 2008 exhibition Contemporary Australia: Optimism. Referring to then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s Apology to the Stolen Generations, the exhibition cautiously welcomed a new era of hope, healing and reconciliation.

Albert has since requested that Sorry be reversed to instead spell YRROS, effectively parodying and evacuating the sincerity of the Apology. Words and meaning exist as a series of conventions. In this act of reversal, Albert underscores how arbitrary and fragile these conventions are. Ten years have now elapsed and with discussions pertaining to Indigenous constitutional recognition reaching a political impasse, we are left to uneasily consider: what, if anything, has changed?

⏩ Visible is at Brisbane’s Queensland Art Gallery until 7 October.

About Today's Contributor:
Chari Larsson, Lecturer of art history, Griffith University

This article was originally published on The Conversation.