26 November 2015 to 1 February 2016
Together with three women, also Aboriginal people from Tasmania, and a teenage boy, they found themselves a long way from home, on Kulin country, on a journey that had fatal consequences. Traumatised by colonial warfare and violence, they resisted and fought back. Retaliation was public and final.
In this exhibition, Tasmanian and Victorian Aboriginal artists speak back to this complex story from the colonial frontier with works of pride, survival and resistance. For them, it is a story they have grown up with. Their works speak of Country, memory, trauma and love for their people. These artists challenge the dominant colonial narrative – both historical and contemporary. They refute the myth that Truganini, a significant figure in this story, was the last of her people; that Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner were simply murderers; and that colonisation was a benign process that met no resistance.
In this exhibition Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner emerge as freedom fighters.
The curator has also included a recent work by a non-Indigenous Tasmanian artist whose forebear painted the pair from memory some thirty years after they were executed.
The exhibition also includes proposals from three artist groups for a marker to acknowledge the men at the approximate location where they were executed in Franklin Street. Artist Brook Andrew, with Trent Walter, has been commissioned by City of Melbourne to develop a public artwork commemorating Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner. The artwork, Standing by Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner will be situated on a small reserve at the intersection of Victoria and Franklin Streets. Experimental and empowering, this artwork will invite those who live in or visit Melbourne to discover how this story informs our knowledge of Aboriginal history and contested stories of colonisation.
Curated by Paola Balla
Paola Balla is a Wemba-Wemba and Gunditjmara woman of the Day and Egan families and is also of Italian and Chinese blood. She is an artist, curator, writer, speaker, educator and arts worker.