Concrete Aboriginal

A Concrete Aboriginal, also known as a Neville, is a lawn ornament once common in Australia.^[1][2] The ornament is a concrete statue depicting an Australian aborigine, generally carrying a spear and often standing on one leg.^[3] The statues were once common in Australia but rarely seen since the 1980s.^[4]

The concrete Aborigine is, at its very core, a symbol of a much simpler time; an Australia that was as unashamedly kitsch as it was unaware of the cultural and political significance of something that, by today's standards, is so brutally offensive the very idea of someone trying to resurrect it as an art form would most likely prompt indignant squealing from the more progressive corners of society.

— Gregor Stronach, ^[1]

The fashion for keeping a concrete aboriginal in the garden was satirised in the Australian 1970s situation comedy Kingswood Country, where the lead character, a racist buffoon, referred to his concrete aboriginal as "Neville".^[1] The name "Neville" was thought to be a reference to Neville Bonner, the first Aborigine to sit in the Parliament of Australia.^[5]

References

1. Stronach, Gregor. "Racism set in stone?". The Drum. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
2. "Balingup artist a finalist in national award". Donnybrook-Bridgetown Mail. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
3. Mountjoy, Donnie (15 November 2005). "Not In My Front Yard, please". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
4. Corbett, Jeff (28 September 2009). "Bring back Neville". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
5. Kirkpatrick, Peter John; Dixon, Robert, 1954- (2012), Republics of letters : literary communities in Australia, Sydney University Press, p. 112, ISBN 978-1-920899-78-3

See also

• Lawn jockey
• Garden gnome