Biting the Clouds: A Badtjala perspective on The Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act, 1897

Description

A striking and compelling book reclaiming history by a renowned Indigenous visual artist. In this groundbreaking work of Indigenous scholarship, nationally renowned visual artist Fiona Foley addresses the inherent silences, errors and injustices from the perspective of her people, the Badtjala of K'gari (Fraser Island). She shines a critical light on the little-known colonial-era practice of paying Indigenous workers in opium and the 'solution' of then displacing them to K'gari. Biting the Clouds - a euphemism for being stoned on opium - combines historical, personal and cultural imagery to reclaim the Badtjala story from the colonisation narrative. Full-colour images of Foley's artwork add further impact to this important examination of Australian history.

Dr Fiona Foley is from the Wondunna clan of the Badtjala nation. Foley exhibits regularly in Australia and internationally. In 2014 she was the recipient of an Australia Council Visual Arts. She is a regular keynote speaker at conferences and symposia all over the world. Most recently she convened Courting Blakness- Recalibrating Knowledge in the Sandstone University (2014) at the University of Queensland, where she was an Adjunct Professor (2011-2017). Foley completed her fourth film titled, Out of the Sea Like Cloud in 2019. Recent exhibitions include a twenty-five year photographic retrospective titled, Who are these strangers and where are they going? Dr Fiona Foley is currently a Lecturer at the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University.

'Biting the Clouds is an eloquent example of the ways in which the visual arts -- through a deep and visceral engagement with memory, experience, emotion and story -- can mediate and remediate the force of inherited histories on contemporary experience.' --The Conversation 'A stunning and illuminating book ... There is so much unlearning and relearning we are continually doing about the history of this place and Indigenous scholarship such as this, is essential to that journey.' --Blackfulla Bookclub 'Fiona Foley's Biting the Clouds is exceptional.' --Arts Hub 'Resolute and generous ... It doesn't only counter historical amnesia: it creates a future for possibilities beyond colonial myth.' --The Saturday Paper 'Well-written, engaging and brimming with insight and passion Biting The Clouds is a compelling and interesting read. Despite its Queensland focus, it is a text that provides an important contribution to a wider national conversation.' The AU Review