MEDIA RELEASE Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route opens July 30, 2010 I hope what people take away from this exhibition is the truth. How this road came about, how it moved people all around. Most kartiya [white people] don’t even know about the Canning Stock Route. When they see the exhibition they’ll find out what the stock route is really. This project gonna open lotta people’s eyes, to find the true history through Aboriginal people. Putuparri Tom Lawford, Senior Translator and Cultural Advisor: The Canning Stock Route Project
The National Museum of Australia, in partnership with FORM, will be launching Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route in Canberra on Friday, July 30. Yiwarra Kuju is one of the most important collections that the Museum has yet acquired, as well as one of Western Australia’s most significant cultural and artistic endeavours. This exhibition will break new ground as it brings Aboriginal voices and experiences to the fore and explores a significant, but little known, period of Australian history through contemporary art, film and new media. The breadth of the exhibition includes an eight metre interactive multimedia installation, a stunning exhibition of works by over 80 artists from nine community art enterprises, a film program, public workshops and a national K-12 education program. The Yiwarra Kuju (One Road) exhibition has emerged as an important outcome of the Canning Stock Route Project. FORM instigated Ngurra Kuju Walyja (One Country One People): The Canning Stock Route Project in mid 2006 by brokering partnerships among the nine art enterprises and communities with direct connections to the Stock Route region. These unique partnerships developed through many creative workshops, return-to-Country trips and community visits. The established and emerging artists involved have contributed their oral histories that explore the complexity of their artistic works, building a powerful social and cultural repository of remote Western Australia. In late 2008, the National Museum acquired the Canning Stock Route collection, and committed to working with FORM and the nine art enterprises to assist in the building and launch of this travelling exhibition. The National Museum will manage its subsequent tour to selected national and potentially international venues. For interviews, images, film clips and additional information please contact: Carly Davenport, Project Manager of Ngurra Kuju Walyja - The Canning Stock Route Project P +61 8 9226 2799 | M 0428 189 811 | E carly@form.net.au | W www.form.net.au Caroline Vero, Publicist, Public Affairs at the National Museum of Australia P +61 2 6208 5338 | M 0438 620 710 | E media@nma.gov.au | W www.nma.gov.au