‘Take this down and apologise’: New Block backlash explodes

The Block has stumbled into a new controversy, with angry viewers demanding apologies from both the show and Nine.

The Block stumbled into a new controversy during Tuesday’s episode, amid a season rife with contestant walkouts and builder stoushes.

The cause of this latest scandal? A simple art challenge.

Each of the season’s five teams were tasked with designing an artwork for a surfboard that would then be displayed in their home.

But it was House three contestants Ricky and Haydn’s choice of design that’s caused some outrage from viewers.

Haydn (left) and Ricky hoped their design wouldn’t be “offensive to the culture.”

In a voiceover, host Scott Cam euphemistically described the boys’ artwork as “an orange base, paired with colourful circles and dots.”

Ricky and Haydn themselves were more upfront, showing a reference of what they called an “Indigenous-style artwork” called Saltwater Dreamtime, by popular Indigenous artist Zachary Bennett-Brook.

Ricky appeared to acknowledge he was wading into dangerous waters with the choice of design, saying: “I hope they’re not offensive to the culture if it’s that bad … But hopefully they’ll see the inspiration that we’ve drawn from it.”

Ricky and Haydn's “Indigenous-inspired” effort.

Indigenous artist Zachary Bennett-Brook’s artworks served as inspiration.

A Nine spokesperson today told news.com.au that “Ricky and Haydn’s surfboard is a piece inspired by First Nations artists. Ricky and Haydn reached out to a traditional owner of the land who guided them on the protocols around interpreting indigenous art. The artwork was inspired by, but never intended to be a mimic of an original indigenous artwork.”

Bad or good, many viewers still found it offensive, flooding a post showing the artworks on The Block’s Instagram page with negative comments.

“I missed which mob Ricky and Haydn were from, can you share?” asked one viewer.

“I hope one of the boys is first nation. Otherwise you need to take this down and apologise,” read another top-rated comment.

Another called it “extremely disappointing” that production didn’t step in to advise the boys that “replicating Indigenous art is inappropriate and cultural appropriation.”

The boys show off their design.

“This blatant display of cultural appropriation is beyond disappointing and broadcast without comment or correction deceives and misleads the general public that this act is acceptable,” another viewer commented, calling on both The Block and Nine to apologise.

“It’s 2024 and not one person stopped this cultural appropriation from going to air?” another viewer asked.

The story was the same on X, where viewers shared their horror using #TheBlock hashtag.

“For the love of all things holy, can someone tell House 3 that they can’t replicate Aboriginal Art,” one person tweeted.

Darren Palmer appears reticent to give too much feedback.

Regular Block judge Darren Palmer was on hand to judge the challenge, and appeared momentarily speechless when time came to judge Ricky and Haydn’s efforts, which he did not select as the winner.

“This is very orange. It’s also got some … tones of Indigenous art to it, so that’s interesting,” he said.

“Yeah … it’s a lot.”

In an explainer titled Can Non-Indigenous People Do Aboriginal Art?, the Indigenous education organisation Koori Curriculum provides a firm answer: “No, you can’t.”

“Remember a non-indigenous Australian can never create an Aboriginal artwork because only people from specific parts of country can tell the story of that country. They are the only ones with authority to do so,” the organisation states.

Originally published as ‘Take this down and apologise’: New Block backlash explodes