An exhibition illustrating the ongoing impact of forcible removal and assimilation, and the story of healing and resilience.
Sydney, Australia: Carriageworks proudly presents Secrets of Dawn, a Stolen Generations truth-telling exhibition by Coota Girls Aboriginal Corporation, from 7-11 August.
Created and directed by Meagan Gerrard (Gamilaroi Wailwan) and Alex McWhirter, curated by Dennis Golding (Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay), the Secrets of Dawn exhibition features historical photos and content from Dawn Magazine, published by the NSW Aborigines Welfare Board from 1952 to 1968, and candid interviews from Coota Girls Survivors. Alongside contemporary visual art by Joanne Cassady (Wiradjuri), Anjilkurri Rhonda Radley (Birpai/Dhanggati), Shannon Stacy (Bundjalung) and Laura Jones (Gamilaroi/Wailwan) and a collective artwork installation, the exhibition illustrates the ongoing impact of forcible removal and assimilation of First Nations babies and children.
Over a period of sixty years, thousands of First Nations babies and children in NSW were stolen by governments, welfare bodies and private organisations. In 1912, the Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls was established as a training institution, where young girls experienced systemic racial discrimination to remove their First Nations identity and alienate them from their culture, Country, families and communities. The institution closed in 1969.
Secrets of Dawn exposes the tactics of assimilation under the NSW Aborigines Protection Act (1909-1969) through the lens of Dawn. The magazines were distributed to all Aboriginal stations, reserves and institutions in the state where they were read by Indigenous people who had limited access to information about their kin and community. Through photos and content, the magazine fabricated the conditions of Aboriginal children in institutional homes to further the agenda of the state government’s assimilation policy.
The collective artwork installation comprises of Dolly Pegs created by Coota Girls Survivors and descendants, highlighting the stark contrast of the images portrayed in ‘Dawn Magazine’ of the Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls as a place of happiness and opportunity, compared with the reality of neglect and domestic slavery. The exhibition invites patrons to contribute to the work by creating a Dolly Peg and adding it to a clothesline displayed in Carriageworks’ Public Space.
Coota Girls Aboriginal Corporation is a First Nations Stolen Generations Organisations founded by Coota Girls Survivors, former residents of the Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls, to ensure the social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of Coota Girls Survivors, their families and subsequent generations.
Secrets of Dawn will be presented at Carriageworks from 7-11 August. Admission is free.