The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Robert Cooper served in Afghanistan 2010-2011. He was deployed as an ASLAV gunner with 2 Cavalry Regiment as part of MTF-2 (Mentoring Task Force – Rotation 2), based in Uruzgan Province.
While on deployment, Cooper was able to sketch and write in his journal, and he also recorded footage of troop movements and the local Afghan people. Cooper was discharged in early 2011. Once home, he produced a sequenced set of 346 works on paper, referring back to the notes and footage he made in Afghanistan so that he could tell the story of his deployment with absolute accuracy. Cooper wanted to show people exactly what he had witnessed and experienced at war.
This portrait is of a local Afghan man who Robert Cooper fondly remembers, and painted for his 2020 Napier Waller prize entry. At Gun Slinger Hill, a colloquial name that American soldiers set for the overwatch position in the Karmisan Valley region where Robert Cooper was positioned, Cooper met an Afghan local, who he searched upon greeting, but with a smile. The Afghanistan man did not seem to mind, and actually invited Cooper to sit with him. Communicating through an interpreted Cooper found out that he was 83 years old, and that he worked inthe fields. He told Cooper that his hands were so cold that they hurt. Cooper had a spare pare of brand new gloves in his bag and gave them to the Aghanistan man. In this photo you can see how happy he was to receive these new gloves. He gave Cooper some sweets to say thank you.
Text from book:
I SAW A AFGHAN NATIONAL DOWN BELOW, I GAVE HIM A BIG DOUBLE HAND WAVE...... HE JUST
LOOKED UP AND THEN CONTINUED ON HIS WAY. I STEPTED BACK FROM THE EDGE OF THE CIIFF,
AND GOT STUCK INTO A MRE (AMERICAN RATION PACK)..... 40 MINUTES LATER THE SAME
AFGHAN APPROACHED OUR LOCATION... I WAS PLEASANTLY SURPRIZED... I WENT TOO
HIM.... SMILED AND SEARCHED HIM FOR WEAPONS... HE DID NOT SEEM TO MIND.... WITH A HAND
GESTURE, HE INVITED ME TO SIT WITH HIM IN THE DIRT AND I DID.... HE WAS OLD AND CURIOUS
(SAME AS ME) HE HAD A STRING OF BEADS (SEEDS?) IN ONE HAND AND PIECING EYES... LUCKY
ENOUGH, WE HAD A INTERPRETER CO-LOCATED WITH OUR CALLSIGN, WE MANAGED TO
COMMUNICATE........ FIRSTLY BECAUSE I WAS WEARING MY BIG FURRY HAT (that I brought at the
TK markets) THE AFGHAN ASKED IF WE WERE RUSSIANS. HE WAS 83 YEARS OLD (and he walked
up a high steep feature to visit) AT ONE STAGE, HE MENTIONED WORKING IN THE FIELDS AND
HOW THE COLD HURT HIS HANDS...... I WENT TO MY BAG AND GRABBED A BRAND NEW PAIR OF
GLOVES AND GAVE THEM TO HIM..... IT TOOK A WHILE FOR THE TERP TO CONVINCE HIM, THEY
WERE HIS TO KEEP.... IN RETURN HE GAVE ME A HANDFULL OF CANDY SWEETS
I FELT SO GOOD.... LIKE I HAD CROSSED A CULTURE GAP......
WHEN HE LEFT WEARING THE GLOVES
TROOPER McMAHON SAID COOPEER YOU DON'T BELONG IN THE ARMY
I THREW THE CANDY AWAY.........
Robert Cooper was a highly commended artist in the Napier Waller Art Prize 2020 held at the Australian War Memorial for his work 'Sore Fingers - Cold Hands'. Cooper's artist statement reads: 'Date : d
Robert Cooper served in Afghanistan 2010-2011. He was deployed as an ASLAV gunner with 2 Cavalry Regiment as part of MTF-2 (Mentoring Task Force – Rotation 2), based in Uruzgan Province. While on de
Robert Cooper served in Afghanistan 2010-2011. He was deployed as an ASLAV gunner with 2 Cavalry Regiment as part of MTF-2 (Mentoring Task Force – Rotation 2), based in Uruzgan Province. While on de
Robert Cooper served in Afghanistan 2010-2011. He was deployed as an ASLAV gunner with 2 Cavalry Regiment as part of MTF-2 (Mentoring Task Force – Rotation 2), based in Uruzgan Province. While on de
Robert Cooper served in Afghanistan 2010-2011. He was deployed as an ASLAV gunner with 2 Cavalry Regiment as part of MTF-2 (Mentoring Task Force – Rotation 2), based in Uruzgan Province. While on de
Robert Cooper served in Afghanistan 2010-2011. He was deployed as an ASLAV gunner with 2 Cavalry Regiment as part of MTF-2 (Mentoring Task Force – Rotation 2), based in Uruzgan Province. While on de
