CHRISTOPHERSEN, Christine

What is it that you value most?

This is the question that Bill Neidjie (senior elder of Kakadu National Park) asked of Federal Parliament when opposing the Ranger Uranium Mine and the Northern Territory Government as they attempted to further contaminate his lands, located within the World Heritage–listed Kakadu National Park in 1994.

This single question affected me profoundly. For me, it has become the measure to strive for in my art, my life. For me, the question has become: ‘what is our capacity as human beings?’ and then: ‘how do we seek our saving grace?’.

Is our shared humanity at question?