The artist who produced a mural of the late Queen Elizabeth II has responded after it was painted over with the colours of the Aboriginal flag.
As anti-monarchy rallies took place across the country on Thursday, the street art in Sydney’s inner west was covered up with black, red and yellow spray paint.
But the mural artist, Stuart Sale, says he has no intention of painting over it.
“It belongs to the streets now, art is meant to be reactionary,” he told AAP.
“Now it’s been turned into something new and that’s the nature of street art.”
Sale, who has painted murals of a number of significant figures including Shane Warne and George Floyd said he wasn’t thinking about the monarchy when he produced the piece of the Queen in Marrickville.
“I just felt it was quite a big thing that happened in the world and I wanted to document it,” he said.
“I don’t really have an opinion on the Queen.”
The nationwide protests coincided with an official day of mourning for the late British monarch.
In Melbourne, anti-monarchist sentiment was marked with fake blood smeared across the royal coat of arms outside the British consulate.
Protests also took place in Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Adelaide as people burned blood-soaked Australian flags and chanted “abolish the monarchy”.
Some of the rallies were organised by Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, who said they wanted to return the country to “the rightful sovereign owners”.
“While they mourn the Queen, we mourn everything her regime stole from us: our children, our land, our loved ones’ lives, our sacred sites, our histories,” the organisers said.
