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Pioneering Aboriginal painter Albert Namatjira carved out his place in art history with his expressionist landscapes. Yet when the copyright to his work was posthumously sold off, his family and people take up the fight to restore his legacy.
Expressionist painter Albert Namatjira was a pioneer for artistic freedom and Aboriginal rights. During his lifetime he became the first Aboriginal person to be granted Australian citizenship and carved out his place in modern art history. However, following his untimely death, the copyright to his work was sold by local government to a publishers. The impoverished Namatjira family, 60 years on, fought a legal battle to gain rights to Namatjira’s legacy. And at the end of 2017, they won.
Namatjira Project is a documentary chartering the family’s journey, which became part of the public force fighting for their justice. Witnessing this lengthy legal process, confronting the history of Australian race relations and celebrating the impact of Namatjira’s art, Namatjira Project is politically powerful and enlightening.