Message Stick -  Sights Unseen: Pt 2

The late Michael Riley is one of the most important contemporary Indigenous visual artists of the past two decades. Over his 20 year career he created an impressive body of work ranging from black and white portraiture, to film, video and large-scale digital photography.

This two-part special, Sights Unseen, is an intimate account of Michael's short but prolific life. Riley not only looked at the world through a different lens, he wanted the world to view what he saw. His films and photographs challenge perceptions of Indigenous life, particularly in eastern Australia.

Episode two focuses on Michael's filmmaking - its inspiration and impact. Friends reflect on him as a friend and professional, and talk about his tragic early death from renal failure, which was triggered by childhood rheumatic fever, a common disease among the Aboriginal community.

Michael's photographic work Clouds, which received international acclaim for Michael and is now hung in the new Musée du quai Branly in Paris, is also discussed. Friends reflect on the beauty and brevity of the images, and how they encapsulate elements of Michael himself.

Friend Linda Burney concludes, "The image that most reminds me of Michael is the feather, because I look at that and you can hardly grasp it - a feather's hard to hold, a feather can float away easily, a feather can be found anywhere, and it's beautiful, it's fine and it's ethereal, and that feather is Michael".

Message Stick: Sights Unseen: Pt 2 will be repeated on ABC2 - Monday, August 04 at 5:00pm