Ive been seeing these Aussie paste-ups for many years. They are the work of artist Peter Drew. His ‘Real Aussies say Welcome’ campaign started in Adelaide some years ago.
In 2013, Drew started pasting up his posters to draw attention to Australia’s immigration issues and a direct response to the Australian government’s ‘Stop the Boats’ campaign.
Recently, as an evolution of this campaign, posters have progressed to a more simplified version such as this one I saw recently in town hall.
In the series there are a variety of different faces. This poster here is of Monga Khan. Khan was one of thousands of people who applied for exemption to the White Australia Policy in the 1920s. Khan was one of many cameleers, hawkers and other traders that were granted exemptions because their work was essential to Australian’s growing economy.
Peter Drew’s paste-up campaigns have been drawing attention to peoples’ attitude to Australian identity, migration, cultural difference for many years now.
Last year Peters book Poster Boy was published. You can find out more about these posters and purchase the book www.peterdrewarts.com/
