Australian Street Artist Peter Drew's 'Real Aussie' Project Comes to Sydney

You may have already seen them around town: posters depicting a heroic, vintage-looking image of a man in a turban with the word "AUSSIE" printed across the bottom. Starting this week, Adelaide based artist and filmmaker Peter Drew will be sticking up 1000 of these posters all over Australia, beginning with 250 around Sydney alone.

The poster portrays Monga Khan, an Indian hawker who lived and worked in Australia in the early 1900s. He was one of thousands of people who applied for exemptions to the White Australia Policy and was granted exemption because he was considered essential to the Australian economy.

As Drew explains, "Ultimately I want to find out if 'Aussie' really means what I think it does. Did Australia inherit its identity from the people who created the White Australia Policy…. or does 'Aussie' have more to do with the people who survived it?"

"Because Redfern is a diverse community and we like helping people out" thanks Jamie from @scouts_honour !🐪👌☕️ This afternoon I'm going to hit the North side, any suggestions? #MongaKhan #RealAustraliansSayWelcome

A photo posted by -- Peter Drew -- (@peterdrewarts) on Apr 4, 2016 at 5:23pm PDT

This campaign, dubbed What is a real Aussie?, was successfully crowdfunded in March, grossing over $19K. The funds are being used to cover printing and transportation cost, as all of the printing and distribution will be done by Drew's own hands.

Drew's artistic focus on national identity began in 2015 with his first poster project, Real Australians Say Welcome, a campaign that promoted openness toward asylum seekers.  Also crowdfunded by Pozible, the success of this campaign was in a big way due to public collaboration and participation, so Drew has again called for creative assistance — including any creative ideas, guidance on best spots to post, and even someone to give him a lift or neighbourhood tour.

Good morning beautiful Cronulla! #MongaKhan #RealAustraliansSayWelcome

A photo posted by -- Peter Drew -- (@peterdrewarts) on Apr 1, 2016 at 2:01pm PDT

The project has just begun, so if you're still interested in donating or getting involved you can contact Drew directly.  

He'll be in Sydney for the remainder of this week so you still have a few days to get involved firsthand with this bloody great project.

It's great to be back in Sydney's Western suburbs, but the truth is my first visit was a little confronting. When I first walked down the streets of Auburn I realised what it must feel like to be a minority. I'd never felt that way in Australia, but these days it doesn't feel unusual at all, especially when I meet friendly people like Bassam! I'll be on the West side all day so which suburbs should I visit? #MongaKhan #RealAustraliansSayWelcome

A photo posted by -- Peter Drew -- (@peterdrewarts) on Apr 2, 2016 at 6:01pm PDT

Top image: Shannon Connellan.