Kyra Mancktelow

Kyra Mancktelow’s work Ain’t no Blak in the Union Jack takes its title from British Academic Paul Gilroy’s book ‘There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack: The Cultural Politics of Race and Nation’.

Written in 1987, Gilroy’s book is a powerful indictment of then current attitudes to race in Great Britain. The author accused British intellectuals and politicians on both sides of the political divide of refusing to take race seriously.

Kyra’s unique ink print of the Union Jack continues this racial discourse visually. By recreating the Union Jack by hand and dipping it in black ink, Kyra puts blakness into the flag through her lived experience under colonial rule. The result is a transfer of ink and conceptual ideas, creating an image that stages stark encounters between emblems of colonialism and Indigenous cultural resistance.

Kyra Mancktelow’s No Blak in the Union Jack is a powerful critique of colonial legacies, highlighting the erasure of Indigenous identity within national symbols – in this instance, the Union Jack. Using her unique printing method, Kyra’s created layered textures and striking contrasts that challenges the viewer to confront historical injustices and the resilience of First Nations people.

This is the first in a series of flags Kyra will be making, including the Aboriginal flag, and the Australian flag.