It may have been a lower profile event than previous years, but the activists behind a number of anti-prohibition stunts in Sydney still drew the attention of police last weekend amid complaints of illegal drug use at a cannabis-themed art exhibition.
Officers visited Sydney’s Gallery Brave in Surry Hills where prominent pro-cannabis campaigners Will Stolk and Alex Zammitt were holding their ‘who are we hurting’ exhibition to coincide with 4/20.
The exhibition featured installation-led works exploring cannabis criminalisation, including a detention-style display designed to reflect the experience of policing and enforcement.
Police arrived at the gallery only to find the cannabis on display was not real.
Stolk said police “buzzed the party about three times” and “eventually popped their heads in to make sure we weren’t doing anything illegal”.
He described the situation as “ironic”, noting similarities to a previous stunt nearly a decade ago.
“At the end of the day, the police are just doing their jobs. They were perfectly friendly to us during the interaction,” he said.
“But in order to change things, we need to lobby state and federal governments to legalise adult-use cannabis and tax it for roads, highways, schools, and hospitals.
“It’s really just another waste of taxpayer money when they have to come check out a harmless art exhibition at one of Sydney’s best galleries.”
Also ironic was that the duo had opted to move away from their past stunt-led campaigns – such as projecting messages onto the Sydney Opera House – in favour of an exhibition-style approach they believed would deliver a more powerful message.
Zammitt said the realism of the props may have contributed to the complaints.
“To be fair, the props we make for film and television look like the real deal,” he said.
