Untitled (The circumstances are that a whale had come on shore)

'Untitled (The circumstances are that a whale had come on shore)' comes from artist Hayley Millar-Baker's 'A Series of Unwarranted Events', created in 2018.

'A Series of Unwarranted Events' relates to the frontier violence faced by Millar-Baker's ancestors, the Gunditjmara people, in the 19th century. These events include the destruction of the ancestral lands, and murders of her ancestors, and the forced indoctrination to Christianity.

'Untitled (The circumstances are that a whale had come on shore)' shows a juvenile whale washed up on a beach. The composition references an incident in Portland, Victoria where a whale was washed ashore and when the Kilcarer Gunditj clan went to recover the whale for meat, the colonisers claimed ownership of the whale, and killed all but two of the Aboriginal men.

The artist states:

“The Convincing Ground massacre took place on Allestree breach between a group of sailors and a Gunditjmara clan in 1833, however the exact date is uncertain and some people consider the Convincing Ground massacre a myth. Portland shore served the Gunditjmara people as a place of ocean abundance. The circumstances are that a whale had come on shore and a Gunditjmara clan went to collect the meat as had they for thousands of years. A group of sailors protested they had ownership of the whale as Portland belonged to them now, and so a conflict started. Untitled (The circumstances are that a whale had come on shore) speaks to the murders of the Kilcarer Gunditj clan over the ownership of whale meat. All members of the Kilcarer Gunditj clan were murdered bar two.” Artist statement 2018