Disappearance of controversial West Papua friendship mural creates a stir in Darwin

RadioNZ – Updated earlier today at 8:18am

A wall in Darwin that was adorned with a controversial street art mural promoting solidarity with the Free West Papua movement is now blank after it was painted over by contractors.

There’s been no official confirmation yet of who made the decision to blot out the work of Larrakia aboriginal elder June Mills, which showed hands from the Morning Star and the Aboriginal flags reaching out to one another.

The mural has drawn criticism from the Indonesian consulate in Darwin, and its loss has members of the Free West Papua movement and the Indigenous community asking plenty of questions on social media.

But the artist herself says she certainly wasn’t consulted about the mural’s removal.