Pigglygate — Em Frank

PIGGLYGATE

2023

A handmade rendition of the iconic Alice Springs Pigglies Mug with the addition of a burning pig on the back. A light dig at the disproportionate police presence on the streets of Alice Springs.

This work caused a low level controversy among some people in the Alice Springs community after I sold the mugs at Watch This Space for $80 each.

A ‘local’ white man posted on facebook accusing me of gentrifying the town, ripping off the local store, selling goods for extortionate rates, and calling into question my right to make art about the town and my status as a local. The debate fired up with numerous people offering a range of opinions, some angry, some humourously exasperated.

While the ordeal was at best humourous, at worst uncomfortable, it raised pertinent questions around how we define who is ‘local’, particuarly as settlers living on stolen land, what gentrification looks like, where the line is between cultural reference and appropriation, and why there is a tendency to seek belonging through exclusion.

Living and labouring on Kaurna Yarta

@em___frank