It had been two months or more since I had cause to fly to Cairns and meet with Andres Caycedo. His solo exhibition in December 2004 was entitled "Shopping Makes You Free". Having sought retail therapy to solve my love woes in the past, I was shocked to find that his was an exhibition which sardonically tore apart any notion of rationality for war. Here was brave, raw political comment.<br />Six months later we met for coffee. It was a cold, clammy August day. One dared hardly speak with an

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... rnative political voice any more. The coffee shop banter was shallow and superficial; work politics, house renovations, and either kids or footy. Andres struck me as a man of slight build, Spanish-looking with dark curly hair and an olive complexion. One senses an easy going personality, unassuming and quiet on first meeting. Born in Colombia , Andres had lived in Australia for eight years. In retrospect on our first meeting, I seem to remember it was I who did most of the talking. Anxious to impart my ideas for a new book, I wanted Andres to agree to an interview.