Vladimir Tatlin was one of the most important avant-garde Soviet artists. Expelled from art school in his youth, he spent time wandering through Russia, earning his living working on sailboats and steamers, and as a circus boxer.
The characteristic spiral of Tatlin’s Monument was translated by many in the community to be connected to the traditional use of the spiral in Aborginal Western Desert painting, often connoting a waterhole, or gathering ground—precisely what The Block has become for Indigenous people throughout the country. Figures like Mum Shirl and Father Ted Kennedy were central in establishing ministries and services for the community, and wharfies like Chicka Dixon and former boxer Teddy Rainbow were amongst the first activists who organized to establish the Aboriginal Housing Company.
