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Kevin Gilbert (author)
Encyclopedia
Kevin Gilbert was a 20th century Indigenous Australian activist, artist, poet, playwright and printmaker. He is also a past winner of the National Book Council prize for writers.
and Kamilaroi
nations in Condobolin, New South Wales
and was raised by his eldest sister on an Aboriginal reserve. He left school at the age of fourteen and picked up various seasonal and short-term itinerant jobs. In 1957 Gilbert was committed to a life sentence over the killing of his wife during an argument. He was eventually granted parole in 1971.
While in prison Gilbert studied printmaking and took up writing. In 1968 he started to pen the play The Cherry Pickers. "The Cherry Pickers" was smuggled out of jail on toilet paper. It was first workshopped and presented in a reading at the small Mews Theatre in Sydney 'in the open air' with Bob Maza and other aboriginal actors reading the parts. The critic and publisher Katharine Brisbane, described her response after viewing an early performed reading of "The Cherry Pickers as ‘I was overawed with a sense of privilege at being allowed into the domestic life of a people whose privacy had, for so long and for such good reason, been guarded from white eyes'. A more complete moved reading was held in 1970 and 1971 in Sydney and the play was subsequently nominated in 1970 for the Captain Cook Memorial Award. The play was performed in its full form by Melbourne's Nindethana Theatre Group in 1973 but the play was not published until 1988 when in the wake of protests against the Bicentennial celebrations of European colonisation of Australia, it became a symbol of aboriginal protest. Gilbert is often billed as the ‘first Aboriginal playwright to have his work performed'. Gilbert's play is based on the stories and experiences of itinerate workers and it deals with, as Gilbert puts it in an introduction to the play written in 1969: ‘'... spiritual searching and loss, my people pushed into refugee situations, desocialised if you like'. The play's narrative mixes traditional creation myths, rituals, political diatribes, clever dialogue and humour. It is through this humour that Gilbert explores alcoholism, violence and spiritual and cultural issues. Gilbert also exhibited his artwork at the Arts Council Gallery in Sydney in 1970, in an exhibition organised by the Australia Council.
From 1972 onwards Gilbert was active in numerous Aboriginal human rights causes and most notably in establishing the Aboriginal Tent Embassy
at (old) Parliament house in Canberra and is known for embracing the term Black
. He also authored 'Because a White Man'll Never Do It' in 1973. In 1978, the National Book Council presented him its annual book award for his book 'Living Black: Blacks Talk to Kevin Gilbert'. The book included interviews with various black commentators of the day including the late musician and dancer Robert Jabanungga
.
Gilbert's career as a playwright did not start and end with "The Cherry Pickers". In 1972, another play by Gilbert, "The Gods Look Down", was produced at the Wayside Theatre, a small alternative theatre in Sydney. The production, directed by Barry Donnelly, can best be described as a dance drama. Gilbert’s notes for the program, describe it as ‘an emotional fantasy using subconsciously emotive scenes based on modern spiritual drift and identity loss, which is actually the present search for a spiritual force or a god’. The play is poetic and semi-abstract and moves from dialogue accompanied by movement to movement-based explorations of love and sexuality. Along with his political work in the 1970's, Gilbert wrote a number of plays and sketches, including "Ghosts in Cell Ten", "The Blush of Birds", "Eternally Eve", "Evening of Fear", and "Everyman Should Care" (Gilbert 1970). Many of these seem to have never been staged but stylistically seem to preempt much of the work of indigenous writers and practitioners of the 1990's such as Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman (Eckersley 2009).
In the leadup to Australia's bi-centenary celebrations, Gilbert chaired the Treaty '88 campaign for a treaty enshrining Aboriginal rights and sovereignty. In that year he was awarded the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's Human Rights Award for Literature for editing the Aboriginal poetry anthology Inside Black Australia. He returned the medal citing the ongoing injustice and suffering of his people. Gilbert continued writing and exhibiting his artwork.
Kevin Gilbert died in 1993. He is survived by six children and numerous grand and great-grandchildren.
Life
Kevin Gilbert was born into the WiradjuriWiradjuri
The Wiradjuri are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales.In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith...
and Kamilaroi
Kamilaroi
The Kamilaroi or Gamilaraay are an Indigenous Australian people who are from the area between Tamworth and Goondiwindi, and west to Narrabri, Walgett and Lightning Ridge, in northern New South Wales...
nations in Condobolin, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and was raised by his eldest sister on an Aboriginal reserve. He left school at the age of fourteen and picked up various seasonal and short-term itinerant jobs. In 1957 Gilbert was committed to a life sentence over the killing of his wife during an argument. He was eventually granted parole in 1971.
While in prison Gilbert studied printmaking and took up writing. In 1968 he started to pen the play The Cherry Pickers. "The Cherry Pickers" was smuggled out of jail on toilet paper. It was first workshopped and presented in a reading at the small Mews Theatre in Sydney 'in the open air' with Bob Maza and other aboriginal actors reading the parts. The critic and publisher Katharine Brisbane, described her response after viewing an early performed reading of "The Cherry Pickers as ‘I was overawed with a sense of privilege at being allowed into the domestic life of a people whose privacy had, for so long and for such good reason, been guarded from white eyes'. A more complete moved reading was held in 1970 and 1971 in Sydney and the play was subsequently nominated in 1970 for the Captain Cook Memorial Award. The play was performed in its full form by Melbourne's Nindethana Theatre Group in 1973 but the play was not published until 1988 when in the wake of protests against the Bicentennial celebrations of European colonisation of Australia, it became a symbol of aboriginal protest. Gilbert is often billed as the ‘first Aboriginal playwright to have his work performed'. Gilbert's play is based on the stories and experiences of itinerate workers and it deals with, as Gilbert puts it in an introduction to the play written in 1969: ‘'... spiritual searching and loss, my people pushed into refugee situations, desocialised if you like'. The play's narrative mixes traditional creation myths, rituals, political diatribes, clever dialogue and humour. It is through this humour that Gilbert explores alcoholism, violence and spiritual and cultural issues. Gilbert also exhibited his artwork at the Arts Council Gallery in Sydney in 1970, in an exhibition organised by the Australia Council.
From 1972 onwards Gilbert was active in numerous Aboriginal human rights causes and most notably in establishing the Aboriginal Tent Embassy
Aboriginal Tent Embassy
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a controversial semi-permanent assemblage claiming to represent the political rights of Australian Aborigines. It is made of a large group of activists, signs, and tents that reside on the lawn of Old Parliament House in Canberra, the Australian capital...
at (old) Parliament house in Canberra and is known for embracing the term Black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
. He also authored 'Because a White Man'll Never Do It' in 1973. In 1978, the National Book Council presented him its annual book award for his book 'Living Black: Blacks Talk to Kevin Gilbert'. The book included interviews with various black commentators of the day including the late musician and dancer Robert Jabanungga
Robert Jabanungga
Robert Mellor Granites Jabanungga AKA Robert Kantilla, Robert Japanangka, Robert Japananga, Robert Jabanunga Kantilla was a TV actor, Aboriginal dancer and musician best known for playing the didgeridoo at many Canberra festivals as well as national and international events. Jabanungga Avenue in...
.
Gilbert's career as a playwright did not start and end with "The Cherry Pickers". In 1972, another play by Gilbert, "The Gods Look Down", was produced at the Wayside Theatre, a small alternative theatre in Sydney. The production, directed by Barry Donnelly, can best be described as a dance drama. Gilbert’s notes for the program, describe it as ‘an emotional fantasy using subconsciously emotive scenes based on modern spiritual drift and identity loss, which is actually the present search for a spiritual force or a god’. The play is poetic and semi-abstract and moves from dialogue accompanied by movement to movement-based explorations of love and sexuality. Along with his political work in the 1970's, Gilbert wrote a number of plays and sketches, including "Ghosts in Cell Ten", "The Blush of Birds", "Eternally Eve", "Evening of Fear", and "Everyman Should Care" (Gilbert 1970). Many of these seem to have never been staged but stylistically seem to preempt much of the work of indigenous writers and practitioners of the 1990's such as Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman (Eckersley 2009).
In the leadup to Australia's bi-centenary celebrations, Gilbert chaired the Treaty '88 campaign for a treaty enshrining Aboriginal rights and sovereignty. In that year he was awarded the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's Human Rights Award for Literature for editing the Aboriginal poetry anthology Inside Black Australia. He returned the medal citing the ongoing injustice and suffering of his people. Gilbert continued writing and exhibiting his artwork.
Kevin Gilbert died in 1993. He is survived by six children and numerous grand and great-grandchildren.
Poetry for his people
Particularly in his early verse, Gilbert uses the poetry as an apologia in respect to his own life whilst challenging the morality of the wider society.External links
- Kevin John Gilbert home page, has images of his art-work