Adopted by Country

Zhou Xiaoping, born and educated in China and classically trained in the Chinese artistic techniques of sketching and painting, arrived in Australia in 1988. Soon after, keen to explore what lay beyond major metropolitan centres, he travelled with sketchbook and camera to Central Australia where he first met with Aboriginal people. ‘Friends’, says Xiaoping, ‘would ask me how I had developed a “relationship” with Aboriginal people in such a short period of time. The answer was very simple: I showed respect. What else establishes good and lasting relationships between people?’ Further travels followed with extended stays in the Western Desert and Arnhem Land, where he sought out practitioners of Aboriginal art traditions, eager to learn from them, share in their everyday lives and take up opportunities for collaborative art-making. Over the years, Xiaoping’s artistic creation has consistently received enthusiastic approval from Aboriginal people, especially the subjects and co-creators of such artworks. In contrast, white cultural gatekeepers have, while praising his technical skills, all too often censured his artworks due to their perceived ‘problematic content’. This baffling contradiction and other interesting insights are explored in Adopted by Country – a most engaging memoir which merits wide attention.