Gutsy Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, a soul brother of Julian Assange , included a special tribute to Australian activists , above , in his joint Melbourne exhibition with works of the late Andy Warhol .
It is a room in which portraits of the activists are made out of Lego pieces which the chicken- hearted / buck hungry company at first did not want to supply for fear of offending China .
Those featured included Assange , visited by Weiwei in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London last year , the two photographed giving the finger to world tyrants and suppressors of vital information, freedom of speech . Weiwei specifically praised Wikileaks founder Assange , saying he was an Australian human rights activist speaking out for openness and transparency.Watching authorities was more important than ever in the information age .
" We have the right to know all those powers, the structure, how they function, why they don't want to let people know, that's really very important. He (Assange )does play a very important role and he's still paying, or sacrifices his life because he made that choice,"the artist is reported as saying .
Visible in the top photograph is the portrait of journalist/author Jill Jolliffe , well known in Darwin , for her involvement in covering the East Timor conflict , helping the populace after the conflict . Her 2001 book covered the Indonesian murder of the Australian TV team known as the Balibo 5.
Visible in the top photograph is the portrait of journalist/author Jill Jolliffe , well known in Darwin , for her involvement in covering the East Timor conflict , helping the populace after the conflict . Her 2001 book covered the Indonesian murder of the Australian TV team known as the Balibo 5.
She selflessly exposed the massacre right nextdoor to Australia which went on for almost a quarter of a century while we, the US included , and Oz willingly, eagerly signed up with Indonesia to plunder the invaded country's oil reserves .
It is probably fair to say , Jolliffe suffered financially and emotionally for her long involvement in the struggle . Another shown here is the president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Professor Gillian Triggs , monstered and vilified by the Abbott Government for doing her job , still snubbed by the Turnbull crew .
Longtime Northern Territory campaigner , Rosemary Kunoth-Monks , is there along with Geoffrey Robertson QC, journalist Peter Greste, Rosie Batty, Michael Kirby AC CMG, Archie Roach, Julian Burnside AO QC ,Gary Foley.
Others are from the fields of international law and academia, social welfare, media, community activism in support of indigenous people, asylum seekers, sex workers and the gender non-specific.
In a short TV interview with Weiwei , he said that if Australia wanted to have a close association with China, presumably through a trade agreement, it should also tell it what it was doing wrong , like a friend .
In other words , speak out about the obvious human rights oppression in China , the latest example of thuggery being the bashing of people connected with a Hong Kong bookshop and the disappearance of relatives on the mainland .
During his time in China Ai underwent an operation in Germany after having been bashed about the head while exposing corruption in his homeland involving jerry built school buildings which collapsed in Sichuan province during an earthquake claiming the lives of many children ; was arrested and held without charge for 81 days in a secret prison; kept in a tiny room with bright lights , watched by guards ; accused of economic crimes; had his studio destroyed ; people connected with him disappeared ; his passport was taken away . A massive global protest resulted in him being allowed to leave the country .
