Exhibitions Open to the Public
Once Known
Opened for the first time at the Old Perth Boys’ School, Once Known, presents a selection of meticulous reproductions of the delicate and treasured artworks created by Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families and detained at the Carrolup Native Settlement in the 1940s.
Upcoming Events
A Together Story: Advocacy
Join us for A Together Story event at 139 St Georges Terrace, with Michelle Broun and Lisa Liebetrau
A Together Story: Hope
Join us for A Together Story event at 139 St Georges Terrace, with Brett Nannup and Patti Belletty
A Together Story: Ripples
Join us for A Together Story event at 139 St Georges Terrace, with Ezzard Flowers and Phoebe Milne
A Together Story Panel: The Next Generation – Strength, Vision and Legacy
Join us for A Together Story event at 139 St Georges Terrace, with Dr Jessyca Hutchens, Brett Nannup, Candice Nannup, and Tyrown Waigana
Upcoming Exhibitions
James Tylor: Turrangka… in the shadows
Kaurna artist James Tylor bridges historical and contemporary photographic process, sculpture and found objects as a language of intervention.
Nan Goldin: The ballad of sexual dependency
This ground-breaking series of 126 brilliant colour photographs is touring to JCG exclusively within Western Australia.
Find us on Instagram
🤝 A Together Story: A Beginning
13 June Fri, 12-1pm
Join Aunty Dot Bagshaw, Noongar Yorga (Woman), Elder and Carrolup Centre for Truth-telling Advisory Member for JCG, and Chris Malcolm, Curator of `Once Known` as they discuss Carrolup child artist Parnell Dempster and the role he played in beginning drawing, his life and legacy.
Facilitator: Ron Bradfield Jnr, a Bardi, Jawi Aamba (Man) and Community Cultural Advisor for John Curtin Gallery
Light refreshments provided.
🤝 A Together Story Event Series are truth-telling discussions with Stolen Generations community members, Carrolup survivors, and allies who have become part of these living stories.
Future Events
20 June (Fri), 12-1pm: Advocacy with Michelle Broun and Lisa Liebetrau
26 June (Fri), 12-1pm: Hope with Brett Nannup and Patti Belletty
7 July (Mon), 12-1pm: Ripples with Ezzard Flowers and Phoebe Milne
The Next Generation – Panel Discussion 11 July (Fri), 12-1pm: Strength, Vision & Legacy with Dr Jessyca Hutchens, Brett Nannup, Candice Nannup and Tyrown Waigana
✨Make these stories a part of your story.
To register and for more info: www.curtin.edu.au/jcg/exhibitions/carrolup-once-known/ or LINK in BIO
Exhibition Hours: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: 11am–4pm
Old Perth Boys` School, Curtin 139 St Georges Tce, Perth
Proudly supported by: @bfplperth @lotterywest @inside_bhp @colgateuniversity and #navigators
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us for our Reconciliation Week student talk as part of the Bridging to Next: Truth and Reclamation exhibition. Your presence, reflections, and conversations made the event truly meaningful.
Together, we continue the journey of truth-telling, learning, and reconciliation. 🖤💛❤️
Thanks to the students, Phoebe Campbell, Yasmin Gane, Di-Andra Holt, Angus Bowskill and Leza Howie, who were guided by Bardi, Jawi Aamba (Man) Ron Bradfield Jnr.
Exhibition continues until Friday June 6
📍 John Curtin Gallery
📅 26 May – 6 June 2025
🕙 Mon–Fri, 10am–5pm
@leza_howie @yasmingane @phoeberose_campbell @angusbowskill @diandra.holt @ronbjnr
@curtinbfagrads @curtinalumni @curtinuniversity
#ReconciliationWeek #BridgingToNext #TruthAndReclamation #StudentVoices #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe #curtinartcollection
🤝 A Together Story: Compassion
6 June Fri, 12-1pm
Join Chris Malcolm, Curator of Once Known, and Dr Neeti Sethi, Gallery Education Coordinator, JCG as they discuss Carrolup teachers Noel and Lily White and their role in championing the children, the power of art, reconciliation, and how people can play active roles in today’s world.
Facilitated by Ron Bradfield Jnr, a Bardi, Jawi Aamba (Man) and Community Cultural Advisor for John Curtin Gallery
Light refreshments provided.
🤝 A Together Story Event Series are truth-telling discussions with Stolen Generations community members, Carrolup survivors, and allies who have become part of these living stories.
Future Events
13 June (Fri), 12-1pm: A Beginning with Aunty Dot Bagshaw and Chris Malcolm
20 June (Fri), 12-1pm: Advocacy with Michelle Broun and Lisa Liebetrau
26 June (Fri), 12-1pm: Hope with Brett Nannup and Patti Belletty
7 July (Mon), 12-1pm: Ripples with Ezzard Flowers and Phoebe Milne
The Next Generation – Panel Discussion 11 July (Fri), 12-1pm: Strength, Vision & Legacy with Dr Jessyca Hutchens, Brett Nannup, Candice Nannup and Tyrown Waigana
✨Make these stories a part of your story.
To register and for more info: www.curtin.edu.au/jcg/exhibitions/carrolup-once-known/ or LINK in BIO
Exhibition Hours: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: 11am–4pm
Old Perth Boys` School, Curtin 139 St Georges Tce, Perth
Proudly supported by: @bfplperth @lotterywest @inside_bhp @colgateuniversity and #navigators
📸
`Once Known`: A Truth-Telling Exhibition
From the Stolen Children of Carrolup
Their stories from Country, from a time when they were forcibly taken from their families and held at the Carrolup Native Settlement.
🤝 A Together Story Event Series Join us for truth-telling discussions with Stolen Generations community members, Carrolup survivors, and allies who have become part of these living stories.
30 May (Fri), 12-1pm: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow with Rachel and Jessica Fortune and Patricia Ryder
6 June (Fri), 12-1pm: Compassion with Chris Malcolm and Dr Neeti Sethi
13 June (Fri), 12-1pm: A Beginning with Aunty Dot Bagshaw and Chris Malcolm
20 June (Fri), 12-1pm: Advocacy with Michelle Broun and Lisa Liebetrau
26 June (Fri), 12-1pm: Hope with Brett Nannup and Patti Belletty
7 July (Mon), 12-1pm: Ripples with Ezzard Flowers and Phoebe Milne
The Next Generation – Panel Discussion 11 July (Fri), 12-1pm: Strength, Vision & Legacy with Dr Jessyca Hutchens, Brett Nannup, Candice Nannup and Tyrown Waigana
Facilitated by Ron Bradfield Jnr.
Make these stories a part of your story.
FREE EVENT - Places are limited please register, for more info: www.curtin.edu.au/jcg/exhibitions/carrolup-once-known/ or LINK in BIO
Exhibition Hours: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: 11am–4pm
Location: Curtin 139 St Georges Tce, Perth
Proudly supported by: @bfplperth @lotterywest @inside_bhp @colgateuniversity and #navigators
📸 Susanna Castleden and Gary Ryder, photo by Marnie Richardson.
Installation view `Once Known`.
The Herbert Mayer Collection of Carrolup Artwork was generously donated for educational and research purposes by Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, USA.
#NRW2025 #Reconciliation #BridgingNowtoNext #OnceKnown #NAIDOC #OldPerthBoysSchool #exhibition #StolenGeneration #Carrolup #CarrolupCentreForTruthTelling #CarrolupCentre #CarrolupArt #FirstNations #AboriginalArt #Noongar #Nyungar #Indigenous #Aboriginal #Heritage #Identity #Belonging #Colonisation #CurtinUniversity #WesternAustralia #JohnCurtinGallery #ColgateUniversity #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe
⭐️ Bridging to Next: Truth and Reclamation Exhibition
Drawing upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks within the Curtin University Art Collection, five third-year Curtin University Fine Art students have been invited to showcase artists that reflect this year’s Reconciliation theme, Bridging Now to Next.
Featuring ‘Larngerner (The Colour of Country)’ by Trawlwoolway artist and Curtin Alumni Julie Gough - this two-channel video work transforms archival fragments and colonial imagery into powerful indictments of historical erasure and control. Gough challenges the way First Nations people were historically dehumanised and classified, offering a powerful counter-narrative grounded in cultural identity and connection to Country.
📍 John Curtin Gallery
📅 26 May – 6 June 2025
🕙 Mon–Fri, 10am–5pm
👉 Lunchtime Student Talk: Thurs 29 May, 12–1pm
@leza_howie @yasmingane @phoeberose_campbell @angusbowskill @diandra.holt @ronbjnr
@curtinbfagrads @curtinalumni @curtinuniversity #NRWK2025 #artcollection #ReconciliationWeek #CurtinArt #JulieGough #IndigenousArt #TruthTelling #bridgingnowtonext
📸 Julie Gough, Larngerner (The Colour of Country), 2018, video stills. Curtin University Art Collection. Purchased with funds donated through Curtin Foundation, 50fifty Acquisition Initiative, 2019
Bridging to Next: Truth and Reclamation Exhibition
26 May - 6 June 2025
Drawing upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks within the Curtin University Art Collection, five third-year Curtin University Fine Art students have been invited to showcase artists that reflect this year’s Reconciliation theme, Bridging Now to Next.
This year’s students, Phoebe Campbell, Yasmin Gane, Di-Andra Holt, Angus Bowskill and Leza Howie, will be mentored by gallery staff member, Bardi, Jawi Aamba (Man) Ron Bradfield Jnr, to assist them in their consideration and investigation of artworks available to them within the collection.
For this inaugural Student Reconciliation Exhibition, Bridging to Next: Truth and Reclamation, the non-Aboriginal students have been encouraged to consider the tenacity, creativity, and humanity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Western Australia and reflect this in their selected artworks.
Lunchtime talk on Thurs 29 May - For more info & to register, see LINK in BIO or visit curtin.edu.au/jcg
@curtinbfagrads @curtinalumni @curtinuniversity #NRWK2025 #artcollection
Image: Sharyn Egan, Basket (vessel), 2021, Kwel (she-oak) needles, thread and emu feather, 13.5 x 25 x 23 cm.
A huge shoutout and congratulations to the artists recently selected in some of Australia’s big art prizes!! 🙌 Curtin Alumni, previous and upcoming exhibiting artists – we are thrilled for your success and wish you all the very best.
Included in the Ramsay Art Prize finalists are Emma Buswell with her amazing work ‘The Pool’, which was exhibited here in 2024. We are excited to welcome her back later in the year for the ‘Everyday Myths and Legends’ exhibition featuring a newly commissioned work.
Also selected is James Tylor whose major solo exhibition is up next at the JCG, alongside Nan Goldin (opening night July 3 – subscribe for further details via our website).
Congratulations as well go to Jack Ball and David Attwood 👏
And way to go to Perth festival 2024 JCG exhibitor Robert Fielding for being chosen for not only the Archibald, but also the Wynn and Sulman Prizes! ❤️
Shoutouts also go to Abdul Abdullah for being an Archibald finalist and winner of its Packing Room Prize 🏆 and to Joan Ross for her selection as a finalist.
Tessa MacKay’s selection in the Wynn Prize and Helen Smith’s inclusion in the Sulman Prize.
Well done to all, we champion you!!
@embuzza1 @jack__ball_ @sweet.pea.arts #jamestylor @davidattwood @agsaadelaide #ramsayartprize @robertfielding_ @mimili_maku_arts
@abdul_abdullah @wecallthisatree @archibaldprize @artgalleryofnsw
@tessamackayart #wynneprize2025 @helensmi1h
@curtinuniversity @curtinalumni @curtinbfagrads
⭐️ 𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍 𝐔𝐒!
Step into a creative, dynamic, and fast-paced environment as the Communications and Engagement Coordinator!
This is your chance to bring your passion for storytelling to life while promoting a well-regarded arts institution with exciting exhibitions, programs, and the Carrolup Centre for Truth-telling. You`ll lead communication efforts that engage diverse audiences through a mix of traditional and digital media, helping to raise the gallery`s profile and create a lasting impact.
Join a supportive, collaborative team that thrives on innovation and flexibility —offering you the freedom to try new ideas and shape your approach to communication. If you`re ready to dive into a role with diverse and exciting projects in a flexible, creative setting, this is your moment to shine!
🔗 LINK in BIO for more information.
Alternatively, visit: http://bit.ly/42BxiLm or find on the Seek website.
@curtinuniversity @curtinlife @curtinalumni @mcasi @curtinbfagrads @curtindbe @uama @amaga_wa @_artshub #artsjobs #perthartsjobs #galleryjob
LAST DAY Thurs 17 April ✨
Our Perth Festival exhibitions for 2025 will soon come to an end.
It has been a joy and a priviledge to feature the amazing work of Alice Guiness `Burndud Ground` & Mai Nguyễn-Long `Doba Nation`
🎁 Looking for a gift? Check out our Gallery Shop while you are here!
Burndud Ground is a @perthfest and @juluwarluartgroup commission and is part of the Boorloo Contemporary Program in partnership with @wesfarmersarts
‘Doba Nation’ is presented with @perthfest
@mainguyenlong is represented by @michaelreidsydney
✨ Our latest Carrolup exhibition, ‘Once Known’ opened to the public last week at the Old Perth Boys’ School at 139 St Georges Terrace as part of the Lotterywest Boorloo Heritage Festival.
Curated by former Director Chris Malcolm in consultation with the Carrolup Centre for Truth-telling Reference Group, ‘Once Known’ shares meticulous reproductions from the delicate originals, providing greater accessibility to the artworks in the lead up to the opening of the Carrolup Centre for Truth-telling within the John Curtin Gallery at Curtin University, Bentley campus where the original artworks will be on year-round display from 2026. While hundreds of children were detained at Carrolup, only 17 artists have been attributed to works in the Herbert Mayer Collection of Carrolup Artwork. The ‘Once Known’ exhibition is a reminder that each child had a name, a family, and a story.
Open during the Lotterywest Boorloo Heritage Festival: 4 – 17 Apr 2025, weekdays 11am – 3pm then reopening to the public Monday 28 Apr. Opening Hours: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: 11am – 4pm (closed Wednesdays and Weekends).
For more information and to see our upcoming events for ‘Once Known’, visit www.curtin.edu.au/jcg/exhibitions/carrolup-once-known/ or LINK in BIO
Photography by Marnie Richardson
@curtinuniversity #Carrolup #CarrolupCentreforTruthtelling #OnceKnown #OldPerthBoysSchool #JohnCurtinGallery #CurtinUniversity #BoorlooHeritageFestival
✨ Mai Nguyễn-Long`s large-scale installation `Doba Nation` features hand-formed clay sculptures that are arranged by the artist on site in a process akin to live storytelling. It has been a joy and privilege to work with Mai and capture this process in motion.
Be sure to visit `Doba Nation` before it closes, only one week left!
‘Doba Nation’ is presented with @perthfest
@mainguyenlong is represented by @michaelreidsydney
Join us for a series of events as part of the Lotterywest Boorloo Heritage Festival for `Once Known` at the Old Perth Boys’ School. These events delve into this exhibition featuring the extraordinary artworks created by Aboriginal children taken from their families and detained at the Carrolup Native Settlement in the 1940s.
Truth Talks led by Ron Bradfield Jr and Patricia Ryder.
4 and 11 April 12-1pm.
Curator Tour led by Chris Malcolm.
8 April 3-4pm.
Guided Tours led by Patricia Ryder, Ron Bradfield Jr and Lisa Liebetrau.
Tour dates: 7, 15, 17 April 10-11am and 10 April 3-4pm.
To book visit https://events.humanitix.com/host/john-curtin-gallery or via link in BIO.
Supported By: Lotterywest, BHP, Colgate University, City of Perth, Navigators.
Exhibition open as part of Boorloo Heritage Festival: 4 April - 17 April 2025, then reopening Monday 28 April. For further information or to contact us visit curtin.edu.au/jcg
Image: Once known child artist, `Teapot`, 1946-50, pastel on paper, 17.5 x 24.5 cm. Curtin University Art Collection. The Herbert Mayer Collection of Carrolup Artwork.
#Carrolup #CarrolupCentreforTruthtelling #OnceKnown #OldPerthBoysSchool #JohnCurtinGallery #CurtinUniversity #BoorlooHeritageFestival
Locations
John Curtin Gallery Curtin University
Building 200A Curtin University, Kent Street
Bentley, Western Australia 6102
Phone: 08 9266 4155
JCG is currently closed while we install the next exhibitions.
Kattidj Nagãr is open by appointment during May and June 2025
Once Known – A Carrolup Centre for Truth-telling exhibition
Presented at the Old Perth Boys’ School
Curtin 139 St Georges Terrace,
Perth, Western Australia 6000
11:00am – 4:00pm
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday (closed Wednesdays and Weekends)
