Free West Papua t-shirt

This t-shirt was worn by a member of the Oceania Interrupted collective during their first artistic intervention in Auckland in 2013 against the long-term brutal occupation of West Papua by Indonesia and the New Zealand government's support of Indonesia.

Samoan writer, teacher and artist Leilani Salesa led this collective of Pacific and Māori women in the staging of 15 artistic interventions to raise public awareness of the plight of indigenous West Papuans and to mark the 15 years that activist Filep Karma was jailed for in raising the Morning Star flag in Jayapura on 1 December 2004 (he was freed in 2015). The collective works in association with West Papua Action Auckland. The aim of the collective is to raise public awareness about the human rights abuse endured by the people of West Papua; intervene in spaces using art ('art is the way we see as the most powerful'), and lobby the New Zealand government to stop training Indonesian police and cease financial dealings with Indonesia.

1 December is a special day for West Papuans because on that day in 1961 the Morning Star flag was raised for the first time. The Dutch colonists were sympathetic because they had put West Papua on the road to independence. However, hopes for a free West Papua were dashed when Indonesian troops invaded the country shortly after. Ever since, anyone who raises the flag is dealt with harshly.

Oceania Interrupted staged a performance protest called 'The Rise of the Morning Star' in Queen Street, Auckland, on Sunday 1 December 2013 as part of a network of global events to create awareness and activate support for the struggle towards independence in West Papua. The women raised the Morning Star flag at three intersections along Queen Street. They stood shoulder to shoulder and raised their fists - encircling the Morning Star flag - as a 'brown sisterhood salute to support a free and independent West Papua' (www.tewhareporahou.wordpress.com). Leilani designed the performance.