Exhibition: 9 April – 13 June

Artists:
Curated by
Tess Allas (AUS) and David Garneau (CAN)
Australian New Commissions
Vernon Ah Kee, Tony Albert, Julie Gough, Genevieve Grieves, Dale Harding and Frances Belle Parker
Canadian New Commissions
Jordan Bennett, Cheryl L’Hirondelle, Marianne Nicolson and Adrian Stimson
New Commission Composition
Nardi Simpson and Amanda Brown
Existing Works
Gordon Bennett, Milton Budge, Robert Campbell Jnr., Fiona Foley, Jennifer Herd, Dianne Jones, Queenie McKenzie, Laurel Nannup, Rover Thomas, Freddie Timms and Judy Watson

April 17 2016, marks a significant date in Australia’s history – the 200th anniversary of the Appin Massacre. Governor Lachlan Macquarie ordered the Aboriginal people within the region of Appin, NSW, be captured and or shot if they try to escape, as well as the displacement of their communities.

Using the Appin Massacre as a catalyst, six Aboriginal Australian artists and four First Nation Canadian artists were commissioned to create new works that either deal directly with the Massacre or draw from the shared brutalities across both nations.

With Secrecy And Despatch juxtaposed these new commission works with existing works by prominent Australian Aboriginal artists. Together these works explored themes of colonial brutality, conflict, identity, culture and memory.