Artist Angus McDonald has won the Archibald Prize People’s Choice Award with an arresting portrait of Kurdish-Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani.
McDonald, a six-time Archibald Prize finalist, first made contact with the writer when he was creating a documentary about the federal government’s detention centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, where Boochani was held for more than six years.
Angus McDonald’s Behrouz Boochani.
Credit:Mim Stirling
The New Zealand government gave Boochani refugee status in July, and McDonald stayed with him there for five days so he could sit for the portrait.
“His portrait’s inclusion in the Archibald has considerable meaning. While recognised as Australia’s biggest art competition, the Archibald also transcends the art world, inhabiting a prominent place in our nation’s broader cultural landscape. In its almost 100-year history, the prize has been a touchstone to single out individuals who have made valuable, often inspirational contributions to Australian public life and society,” McDonald wrote in a piece for this masthead.
