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For years Garawa artist Jack Green has used painting to voice concerns about the environmental impacts of Glencore's McArthur River Mine in the Northern Territory.
His pictures show the effects on the landscape and Indigenous communities of the zinc-lead mine ploughing through the McArthur River near Borroloola in 2007.
"Because I can't read or write, the only way I'm going to get my voice across is with painting, that's the only way I can tell my story," he said.
But the artist, and a Sydney art gallery which has exhibited his paintings, have accused Borroloola's Mabunji Indigenous corporation of trying to silence that voice.
Green is accusing Mabunji of telling him, and two other artists Nancy McDinny and Stewart Hoosan, to remove their art from safe storage in the Borroloola art centre and of denying them access to painting materials.
Many of McDinny's paintings depict environmental damage by mining, and her husband Hoosan's paintings tell stories about the effects of white settlement on Gulf of Carpentaria Indigenous communities.
"In 24 hours they asked people to remove all their paintings. And it hurts a lot of people like us who have been painting there," Mr Green said.
He thinks the fact that Mabunji received $1 million in funding for its new creche, and a new sea ranger boat from the McArthur River Mine Community Benefits Trust, may have influenced how the organisation views his art.
"All I know is the McArthur River Mine is putting some money towards Mabunji, and sometimes I think that could be part of it," he said.
Director of the Cross Art Projects in Sydney's Potts Point, Jo Holder, said she is extremely concerned about the dispute.
"The artists were asked to remove their art work (from the centre) which is very serious given that these works need to be stored in stable conditions," she said.
"It does seem to me that this is very risky behaviour.
"Isolating and marginalising and trying to identify a group of your most pre-eminent artists as troublemakers is quite absurd."
However, Mabunji chief executive Greg Crofts denied that any artists have been marginalised.
"We haven't returned art work to anybody unless we've had the request from the artist," he said.
When the ABC visited the art centre in May, Mr Crofts demonstrated that one of Green's paintings was being kept in the storage room.
Asked why Green, McDinny and Hoosan's art was no longer being exhibited in the art centre gallery, Mr Crofts said he wanted to give opportunities to other artists.
"If there was the space and the timing and so forth, they would be treated like anyone else. We already have people queuing up to exhibit here," he said.
Ms Holder is astounded that the three artists are not being displayed at the Borroloola art centre.
"All have been finalists in the National Indigenous Art Awards, so it's not just my judgement, it's a widespread professional judgement that these are artists of eminence with reputations and careers that concern all Australians," she said.
Mr Crofts rejected the accusation that funding from the McArthur River Mine may have influenced the treatment of artists.
"We are a-political, we don't take any sides," he said.
"We see the mine as a funder, a philanthropic funder and as for the arts centre, it has nothing to do with the mine, the mine has no contribution to it."
Ms Holder said she has lost confidence in buying art from Borroloola's art centre.
"The artists have been telling the story of contemporary history in a very profound and resonant way, and it does seem that this voice is being silenced," she said.
"You need a community, a collegiate community of artists to get really top level art work."
Topics: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, contemporary-art, mining-environmental-issues, mining-industry, borroloola-0854
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