© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022 Finalist
As dark histories are usually untold or diluted, these images portray a common theme of language revival in modern Indigenous communities. Language not only self identifies, it carries the ethical values of ancestors – the knowledge systems that make them one with the land, that are crucial to survival and that create the foundations for our youth. Heavy regulations such as no. 41 of the Yarrabah Rules and Regulations booklet – which stated that 'It is rude to speak in a language which is not understood by all present' – were a major turning point in the decline of traditional language.
The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.
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