Let’s Talk – Social Justice with Finona Foley


This week on Let’s Talk…social Justice, Kevin catches up with artist and researcher Professor Fiona Foley to talk about the long history of colonial violence in so-called Queensland, and the big question of whose histories get celebrated and memorialised in the present. Linking back to last week’s discussion with Boe Spearim, this week Kevin and Professor Foley talk about the continuation and contestation of state-sanctioned colonial violence in Queensland. Dr Foley is a Batjala woman, artist, and academic, and a founding member of Boomalli Aboriginal Artist Co-operative. She exhibits regularly in Australia and internationally. Her 2020 book, Biting the Clouds: A Batjala Perspective on the 1897 Aboriginals Protection and Restriction on the Sale of Opium Act won the 2021 Queensland Premier’s Award for a work of state significance. Foley’s current work looks at the politics of commemorating and memorialising the frontier wars and histories of colonial violence.