NGURRA KUJU WALYJA, ONE COUNTRY ONE PEOPLE
THE CANNING STOCK ROUTE PROJECT
(Working Title)
In development since September 2006, the Canning Stock Route Project (CSR Project) is an alliance between nine Aboriginal arts and cultural organisations. It is a collaborative project, which promotes a greater awareness of the history, culture and country of some of Australia’s most renowned Western Desert artists.
The Project encompasses a major exhibition, the production of two companion publications, a professional development program, a multi-media and a public education program. It records a rich and deeply compelling record of Aboriginal communities from this remote region. The material captures a diverse and distinctive Aboriginal worldview and audiences are invited to consider ways in which contemporary Aboriginal people conceive connections to country, family and the Jukurrpa (Dreamtime).
109 artists and countrymen, comprising some of Australia’s most senior and respected artists, such as Eubena Nampitjin, Jan Billycan, and Patrick Olodoodi Tjungurrayi, have contributed to the Project material in multiple ways.
The National Museum acquired the CSR collection in late 2008 and have commited to working with the FORM team to assist in the building and launch of the exhibition In July 2010 and also manage its subsequent tour to selected national and international venues. Museum Director Craddock Morton describes the collection “as a peerless archive of the social and cultural histories of communities across a vast area of Western Australia... it is a national treasure”
A monumental journey
In July and August 2007, Canning Stock Route Project team embarked on a monumental return-to-country trip, travelling the length of the CSR through the lands of Martu, Kukatja, Manyjilyjarra, Wangkajunga, Walmajarri and Yulparija peoples. Facilitated by Aboriginal cultural advisors and documented by Aboriginal multimedia trainees in collaboration with a professional film crew, Project team members recorded oral histories and made short films along the length of the CSR, building up a rich chorus of the many voices missing from Australian history books.
At designated camps along the way, 60 of Western Australia’s finest Aboriginal artists and emerging talents participated in artistic workshops on country. Three emerging Aboriginal curators are now working under the mentorship of guest curator Wally Caruana and FORM to develop the exhibition, which will present the fruits of this alliance to global audiences.
The Canning Stock Route joins the towns of Wiluna and Halls Creek along a 1850km track through the Great Sandy, Little Sandy and Gibson deserts in Western Australia and was pioneered by Alfred Canning in 1906-07. Using Aboriginal guides and their knowledge of local water sources, Canning sunk over 50 wells along this route to allow cattle to be transported from the Kimberley to the southern goldfields. Though unused for droving since the 1950s, the CSR has become a major 4WD adventure destination in recent times, seeing thousands of tourists along its path every year.
The Canning Stock Route Project seeks to re-examine what the Stock Route means for Aboriginal Australians across the regions today.
The CSR Team
The Canning Stock Route Project is bold and ambitious – and would never happen without the expertise of the huge team behind it. The nine Aboriginal art enterprises and the FORM team are the crux of the Project, backed by the skills of many other participants.
The Artists: creating works for the exhibition, including some of Australia’s most senior and respected artists - Eubena Nampitjin, Jan Billycan, Helicopter Tjungurrayi, Spider Snell and Patrick Olodoodi Tjungurrayi.
The Emerging Aboriginal Curators: Murungkurr Terry Murray (ex Mangkaja Arts), Hayley Atkins (Martumili Artists) and Louise Mengil (Waringarri Artists) are working directly with the artworks and cultural materials for the exhibition while learning specialised professional skills via Curator and Mentor Wally Caruana.
The Emerging Multimedia Practitioners: Clint Dixon (Goolarri), Kenneth KJ Martin (KLRC), Morika Biljabu (Martumili Artists) are working under the guidance of renowned professionals including award-winning filmmaker Nicole Ma, and Goolarri Media Enterprises.
A diverse spectrum of Aboriginal and non Aboriginal professionals and agencies: including cultural advisors, interpreters, photographers, language workers, writers, curators, filmmakers, mechanics, health workers, art centre managers and other professionals who have contributed their skills, knowledge and passion to the Project’s development.
Visionary Partnerships
This project could not be possible without the generous contribution by established and emerging artists from the nine partnering arts and cultural enterprises, by the participation of senior elders, countrymen and women and the multiple Aboriginal owned and governed community organisations across the Western Desert region. We deeply appreciate your important contribution.
FORM in association with the nine arts and cultural enterprises wishes to thank the following partners:
If you are interested in being part of this exciting, unprecedented journey, contact Lynda Dorrington FORM’s Executive Director here.