A few years back, I started collecting vintage Australian tourist scarves that portray First Nations people as primitive caricatures and noble savages. Now, I own more than 10 scarves with images ranging from Western depictions of First Nations art and objects, to Indigenous people in tokenistic scenes.
I did so as a creative response to my academic work on First Nations fashion, art and style, and to engage with the practice of First Nations garmenting – the use of clothing and adornment as art.
