Jack Green

Jack Green was born in the early 1950s under a Coolibah tree on Soudan Station on the Barkley Tablelands, Wakaya country. He is a Mambaliya man, Garrwa on his father’s side and Marra on his mother’s side. He grew up on cattle stations, travelling with kin for ceremonies, and settled in Borroloola in the early 1970s. He was the founding coordinator of the Waanyi Garrwa Rangers, under the Northern Land Council, and is now their Senior Cultural Adviser

Jack first started painting as a powerful way to share his experiences of the operations and impacts of mining companies and government policy on the region’s peoples and their country; but has since gone on to explore a wide range of cultural and political themes.

“I want to show people what is happening to our country and to Aboriginal people. No one is listening to us. What we want. How we want to live. What we want in the future for our children. It’s for these reasons that I started to paint. I want government to listen to Aboriginal people. I want people in the cities to know what’s happening to us and our country. I want the government and mining companies to know that we are still here. We aren’t going anywhere. We aren’t dead yet. We are still here, feeling the country.”

Jack had his first solo exhibition at  Arena Project Space in Melbourne in 2013  which focused on the social and environmental impacts of mining in the region (in particular the McArthur River Mine) as well as the inadequacies of government consultations with local people.

Since 2013, Jack has been represented in many national exhibitions and awards. His work is also held in a number of significant private and public collections.