There was a telling moment during the recent opening of a landmark First Nations Australian art exhibition in Aotearoa/New Zealand: a speaker commented that Australia is racist and the entire room laughed.
On a panel exploring indigenising creative practices, South Australian artist Yhonnie Scarce described her home state as being known for its racism – but then, a beat later, went on to list all other states as having the same reputation, prompting laughter from the crowd.
