Myall Creek and Beyond

1 February—24 April 2021
Curated by Dr Bianca Beetson

A New England Regional Art Museum Touring Exhibition assisted by the Australia Government’s Visions of Australia program.

On the afternoon of Sunday 10 June 1838, a group of eleven convicts and ex-convict stockmen led by a squatter brutally slaughtered a group of twenty-eight Aboriginal men, women and children who were camped peacefully at the station of Myall Creek in the New England region. 

Although many other massacres of indigenous people occurred during the Frontier Wars across Australia, this one had special significance because it was the only time when white men were arrested, charged and hung for the massacre of First Nation Peoples following a police investigation. 

Produced in partnership with the Friends of Myall Creek Memorial, Myall Creek and Beyond was an exhibition of works by a group of leading contemporary indigenous artists who participated in an artist residency program in regional NSW. The artists worked with local communities to create new works for the exhibition to explore the issues and complexities of the Myall Creek Massacre and its aftermath locally and nationally. The exhibition explored this difficult shared history to increase awareness and generate considered discourse about these events and their continued impact on both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

Artists
Robert Andrew, Fiona Foley, Julie Gough, Colin Isaacs, Jolea Isaacs, Quarralia Knox and Radical Son (David and Tim Leha), Carol McGregor, Laurie Nilsen, Judy Watson and Warraba Weatherall.

Installation view of Myall Creek and Beyond at the UniSC Art Gallery. Photo: Hossein Farahani.

Special event: Fiona Foley, Carol McGregor and Judy Watson in conversation with Bianca Beetson
2pm, Saturday 13 March 2021

Catalogue
A catalogue accompanied the exhibition. It included essays by Dr Bianca Beetson, Suzanne Blacklock and Lyall Munro Snr, and statements by the artists.

Education Resource
Download the education resource NERAM Myall Creek and beyond (PDF 34MB)