Acknowledgement of Country

The Child Artists of Carrolup Native Settlement
Tracing hidden artworks of a Stolen Generation

8 July – 26 September 2022
The Portico Library, Manchester

6 October – 11 November 2022
The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery Chapel, University of Glasgow

Free Entry

Hundreds of artworks created by Aboriginal children at the Carrolup Native Settlement in Western Australia were sold in the UK in 1950s. The truth of this story is shared through the children’s drawings and words. Displayed alongside historical documents and archival photographs, they tell a powerful story of survival.

This exhibition connects Noongar with UK communities, shining a light on our shared histories. It offers hope for renewed relationships between Australia’s First Nations peoples and the United Kingdom. We invite you to be part of the healing journey of the descendants of the child artists, the people of the Noongar Nation and help us recover these precious artworks and reconnect them with Noongar families.

The John Curtin Gallery (JCG) at Curtin University in WA, guided by the Carrolup Elders Reference Group, hopes to further engage with these artworks by retracing Rutter’s exhibition tour, and reconnecting the artworks with living descendants as part of their healing journey.

JCG is the caretaker of the Herbert Mayer collection of Carrolup artworks, originally part Florence Rutter’s private collection.  The return of these artworks to Western Australian in 2013, known as the Herbert Mayer collection, is part of this amazing story.

Special Events

There will be two special events taking place at the University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel as part of this exhibition.

• Monday 24 October, 7pm
  Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse Trio Live
  Book
• Thursday 3 November, 7pm
  Jessie Lloyd: Mission Songs Project
  Book

About the John Curtin Gallery

The John Curtin Gallery seeks to inspire audiences to create a more just and equitable world. Its mission is to interrogate contemporary issues through the visual arts, presenting the highest quality dynamic exhibitions from local, national and international artists, and collecting works representative of the complex and rich cross- and multicultural practice in Australia and the region.

Located on Whadjuk Nyungar Boodja country, John Curtin Gallery is one of Western Australia’s major public art galleries and one of the largest and best-equipped university galleries in the country. Its significant reputation attracts exhibitions by local, national and international artists, presenting works across a wide range of mediums.

The Gallery capitalises on its location within a research-rich environment to curate exhibitions that bridge art, science and academia in engaging and innovative ways.

Its custodianship of the Herbert Meyer Collection of Carrolup Children’s Art is guided  by protocols established by the Carrolup Elders Reference Group.

Images

• Carrolup State School classroom, with school children, teachers Noel and Lily White and visitors from Katanning c1948-49, photograph courtesy Noelene White.
• Once Known Child Artist, “The Golden Road”, c1949, pastel and charcoal on paper, 280mm x 385mm. Artwork reproduced with permission of the Carrolup Elders Reference Group.
• Ezzard Flowers, Founding member of the Carrolup Elders Reference Group and Stolen Generation survivor at the opening of Koolark Korl Kadjin (Spiritual Return Home), Katanning WA, 2015