News Archive

Colleagues,

As we celebrated our rise up the international university ranks to number 88,  another quiet celebration was taking place on the Crawley campus.

Wildflower Dreaming , an exhibition at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, celebrates the journey of a young Indigenous woman, Shirley Corunna, her move from Three Springs to Perth, and her involvement in the Coolbaroo League.

The small but very moving exhibition chronicles life for Indigenous people in Perth 50 years ago. It brings into sharp focus how far we, as a society, have come since the 1950 but also reminds us that we still have a long way to go with respect to our Indigenous heritage.

When we think of art galleries and Indigenous culture, we invariably see beautiful paintings, many of which were created modestly but are now sold all over the world for high prices.

Wildflower Dreaming (Shirley Corunna and the Coolbaroo League 1952 - 1962) is very different.

It is a slice of life that often tasted far from sweet for urban Indigenous people. The exhibition includes front pages from the Westralian Aborigine , the first Aboriginal-owned and published newspaper in the State. These pages carry stories of racism, illogical hatred and unfair practices.  But they are accompanied by photographs of happy Indigenous people, enjoying the legendary Coolbaroo League Friday night dances, and beautiful young women posing in swimsuits, just as non-Indigenous women did in the 1950s and early 1960s.

The Coolbaroo League helped to create strong Indigenous leadership through both political action and social events.  As curator Barbara Bynder (Shirley Corunna's niece) wrote, it supported young Indigenous people to hold their heads high, creating healthy social, economic and political opportunities for them.

The exhibition is an intriguing blend of stories of a downtrodden people who were resilient, strong and happy.

It is not just Shirley Corunna's journey on the walls of the Janet Holmes a Court gallery, but the journey the people of Western Australia have taken, and are still making, towards mutual respect, understanding and celebration of Indigenous culture.

I urge everybody in our University community to see it.

Paul Johnson

Vice-Chancellor

Wildflower Dreaming continues at the Gallery until 13 December.