Portrait of Behrouz Boochani wins the Archibald’s people s choice award
Angus McDonald’s painting of the Kurdish-Iranian writer has captured the public
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The winner of the Archibald Prize’s people’s choice award for 2020 has been announced, and the portrait to take out the award depicts someone who has never stepped foot on Australian soil – Kurdish-Iranian writer, poet, filmmaker, journalist and former Manus Island detainee, Behrouz Boochani.
Boochani was held in offshore detention as a refugee for six years by the Australian federal government before being granted asylum in New Zealand in July 2020. The artist, Sydney-born Angus McDonald, first made contact with Boochani in 2018 while creating a short film about the detention centre in which Boochani was being held. McDonald says he attempted to visit Boochani on Manus in 2019, however Papua New Guinea authorities intervened and he was sent on the first flight back to Australia.