Street Artist's 'Aussie' Posters Challenge Identity for 10 Years

For ten years, Peter Drew has been technically breaking the law, and nobody wants to stop him.

The Australian street artist has hand-printed and pasted 5,000 posters on walls across the country, each featuring archival photos of ethnically diverse Australians with the word "Aussie" boldly displayed underneath. Unlike anonymous street artists who hide their identity, Drew openly admits to his vandalism and says authorities haven't prosecuted him because people love the work.

Drew launched the "Aussie" series in 2016 after discovering a photograph of Monga Khan, a Muslim hawker who arrived in Australia in 1895. "He looks majestic and mysterious, and I knew he was going to be the hero of this project," Drew told triple j Hack.

The project was born during a wave of anti-Islamic sentiment in Australia. Drew found inspiration in the cameleers who helped open up the Outback in the 1800s, seeing their forgotten history as a powerful counterpoint to modern xenophobia.

Every poster is entirely self-funded and hand-colored by Drew himself. He's turned down government partnerships to maintain independence, preferring supporters to know their contributions directly fuel the project.

The Ripple Effect

The posters have sparked countless conversations in communities across Australia. Drew says curiosity often leads to understanding, even among skeptics who initially question whether the people in the photos "look very Aussie."

One recent encounter with a Ukrainian couple showed him the project's broader reach. Despite no Ukrainians appearing in the series, they connected with the message of inclusion and acceptance for people outside the norm.

Descendants of the people featured sometimes reach out with information about their ancestors. "That part of it is so special to me," Drew says.

Not everyone appreciates his work. He's faced verbal abuse and physical attacks while putting up posters. Recently, copycats hijacked his style in Melbourne, creating fake posters featuring controversial figures in an attempt to provoke anger.

But Drew continues undeterred. After ten years, he believes the series is more relevant than ever and has committed to at least another decade of work.

He's expanding the concept to include white Australians using historical mugshots, aiming to depict "the whole rather than just depicting the people who are excluded from the concept of Aussie." He's even branching into other social issues, including gas export taxation.

Drew's simple formula keeps working: find forgotten faces from Australia's archives, print them by hand, paste them on ugly walls, and let curiosity do the rest.