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Artist asked to remove separatist Papuan flag mural in Darwin
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The mural featuring the Free Papua Movement flag in Darwin. It was painted in June 2015. (ABC News/Stephanie Zillman)
A
n artist who painted the Free Papua Movement flag on the wall of a building in Darwin, Australia, has reportedly been asked by the building owner to erase the mural. The request was allegedly made due to "external pressures”.
Randazzo Properties (RP), the owner of the building, expects the mural to be removed from the wall this week, Kompas.com reported, citing a written statement as quoted from AustraliaPlus, on Monday. RP is said to have contacted the owners of buildings located in proximity to the wall to request access so that the mural can be removed.
“Due to external pressure, I have requested that the mural be removed as soon as possible [...],” a Randazzo Properties employee wrote in an email.
Free West Papua activists in Australia admitted that they had been informed of the mural removal request made by RP. The activists allege that the “external party” mentioned by RP was the Indonesian Consulate General in Darwin.
The Indonesian Consul in Darwin, Andre Siregar, claims not to have had any contact with the owner of the building in question. However, the consul admitted that in August 2015 he had written a letter to the Northern Territory government voicing objection to the separatist mural.
While claiming to respect freedom of expression in Australia, Andre considered that physically, the mural was located in close proximity to both the Indonesian Consulate General and Australian Parliament buildings, potentially raising questions regarding the level of Australian support for the Free Papuan Movement among Indonesian officials who visited the country.
Andre said there were two people in Darwin who support the Free Papuan Movement, including the mural artist, Juni Mills.
Mills claims that the wall has been used by different artists to convey various messages for years, adding that the mural was designed to show solidarity between Papuans and Indigenous Australians.
“This mural shows respect, love and solidarity for West Papuan people,” said Mills.
“People cannot raise the West Papua flag in West Papua. They will be killed or imprisoned or punished,” said the artist. “So we painted the flag here as a form of solidarity [...] We acknowledge their struggle,” she said.
The main problem, Mills further said, was that the Indonesian government did not want the struggle of the Free Papuan Movement to spread abroad. “They want to block information on anything that has occurred in West Papua,” said Mills. The artist said the mural was painted in June 2015.
Mills believed that the order to remove the mural was related to a conference to be held soon at the Charles Darwin University.
The Indonesian conference will invite academics, researches, lecturers and students of different disciplines to discuss the latest information on developments in Indonesia.
On the issue of the mural, RP executives have not yet provided a statement. Several activists gathered at the location of the mural on Saturday to protest the removal request. (ebf)
