waru (production still)

For Vernon Ah Kee, cricket is a sport with strong personal and family associations. But it is also connected with ideas that he has pursued in earlier artworks: the ways in which urban indigenous Australians engage with white Australian culture, the ways in which exclusion and invisibility are normalised in everyday language and behaviour. For an indigenous community, cricket is both a common, and a contested, ground. Cricket is about family and community activity but also historical exclusion and racism. Innisfail Waru is an all-indigenous cricket team competing in the Cricket Far North league of tropical Queensland. Like many sporting clubs, it focuses on enhancing participation, health and fitness. To capture the character ambition of Innisfail Waru, Ah Kee has reflected on the ways in which indigenous Australians and cricket itself have been represented. In place of the predominately anthropological tradition of indigenous portraiture, Ah Kee introduces a casual confidence tinged with a larrikin edge.