Gubba Up investigates the destruction of Aboriginal culture by covering up blak skin. Jackets and coats were significant objects during the earliest encounters between First Nations peoples and the First Fleet. Drawing upon the histories of these garments reveals the impact of colonialism and what Indigenous people fought against to maintain their identity today. While gifted to Aboriginal men, these jackets were a way to cover the naked bodies of savages in this new land. To be naked was to be savage.
‘Gubba’ loosely translates to ‘white’. To gubba up is to whiten up; to whiten up is to cover up. These and other systemic incursions are continual forms of the colonial regime imposed over Aboriginal land and people, and for Kyra Mancktelow, a key component of her ongoing investigation into garments and their unwritten histories.
Kyra’s multi-faceted series serve as starting point for her audience to learn more about the history of Australian colonial garments and their impact of Indigenous culture. The jackets worn by warriors have not survived, the artefacts are absent. It is not possible to see or touch the real fabric, study the colour, cut, stitching, buttons, piping, braid, the tears and stains. These coats and jackets are ghost artefacts, recorded only in the paintings and words of colonial power, and then often conveyed through thick lenses of ridicule, revulsion or pity.
Kyra Macktelow’s exhibition GUBBA Up is currently on display at the N.Smith Gallery, 6 Napier Street, Paddington
