YAGU GURLBARL - BIG SECRET, Geraldton, WA
Solo Show Geraldton Regional Art Gallery, Western Australia
Curated by Charmaine Green, Yagu Gurlbarl (Big Secret) is an exhibition of Dowling's own family and other First Nation individuals marked as 'Unknown' from international photographic archives.
Dowling thematically investigates the First Nation struggle for compensation for stolen wages and reparations for slavery both within the colonial state and in international courts of justice.
"Between 1800s and 1970s, First Nation workers in Australia were enslaved. Denied wages that were stolen by corrupt officials and employers, generations of First Nations in Australia were locked into a cycle of poverty that still exists today.
Badimaya/Yamatji painter, Julie Dowling, has compiled an exhibition on the theme of Slavery in Australia for First Nation people both in these past centuries and in current Australian society. From diving for pearls to back breaking farm labour, from minding children of their colonial masters to present day work for government benefits, Dowling forces Australians to face racist discourses that First Nation people were/are lazy and a drain on society. An amnesia exists whereby Australian agriculture and other primary industries were founded on the slavery of its first peoples. The works in Dowling’s exhibition speak of these atrocities and to show how beautifully resilient her people are despite this."
- Carol Dowling
For all enquiries |
‘Aunty Violet’
2017
89.6cm x 110cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Mica Gold on canvas
Description: This is a portrait of Julie Dowling's great aunt Violet Taylor (nee Latham) who worked as a servant and slave for her white father Francis Arthur Latham who was a surveyor for “Lord’ Forrest. From the age of 11 till she was in her early 20’s she cooked, cleaned and kept house for her father but was considered his servant until she was married to a white man by the name of James Taylor.
Behind her body is gold covered over by symbols of bush fires, jardi(goanna) everlasting flowers and emu tracks.
‘Unknown: The Lawmen’
2017
101cm x 121cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: From an archive photograph of two workers with First Nation customary scarring.
The photographer and subjects are unknown.
‘Cousin Peter’
2017
100 x 120cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre, Mica Gold and Plastic on canvas
Description: My 2nd cousin Peter Handerson-Taylor has worked many times for slave wages or has been exploited for no pay most of his working life simply because he’s a First Nation man.
One of the most discriminatory ‘job’ systems is CDEP or ‘work for the dole’ whereby remote workers work up to 25 hours per week while seeing a permanent or part-time position. No other job seeker in Australia is asked to do this much to get jobless benefits.
Many jobs are withheld based on racial profiling.
Peter has worked on road work depicted on the bottom of the painting which flies in the face of what he believes about land care symbolised by the trees surrounding his torso.
Peter wears the standard uniform he wears for work duties with a reflector band on his orange shirt.
Many would argue that the condition for First nation workers is modern slavery.
Peter is a Badimaya via his grandmother Violet Taylor (nee Latham) who is my grandmother’s older sister.
‘Unknown: King’
2017
101.5 x 152cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Mica Gold on canvas
Description: From an archive photograph of an unknown man with a ‘king plate’ held over one shoulder. It appears his leg has been broken but not set hence the use of a stick.
He holds an axe in his hand.
The photographer and subject are not known.
‘Great Uncle Sam’
2017
101.5 x 152cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Mica Gold on canvas
Description: Julie Dowling’s Maternal great grand uncle Sam Winmar was a half-brother to her great grandmother Mary Latham (nee Oliver). Sam was the son of Ninghan ‘Fred Winmar who was assumed to be Noongar while his mother was Melbin whom they both shared the same mother.
Sam worked as a stockman, station manager (unheard of during that time) and tracker for almost no payment other than food and shelter.
The symbols on the back found are of the tracks and meeting places he visited between Noongar and Badimaya country and around his head are tracks of jardi (goanna).
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‘Molly & Dorothea (The Servant Shall Become the Master)’ 2017 119.5 x 139.5cm Acrylic, Red Ochre, Mica Gold and Plastic on canvas Description: “The Servant shall become the master” is a quote from the Roman Catholic Bible. The same quote is symbolic of the misinterpretation towards assimilation of First Nation children via orphanages and missions. The two figures are, left to right, Molly Dowling (nee Latham) dressed in white who is maternal grandmother to Julie Dowling and Dorothea ‘Dot’ Passmore (nee Latham) seated. Both were taken from their mother by their white surveyor father to the southwest from Badimaya country in the mid-west to be schooled and assimilated to marry white men for marriage. They were taken to first the Anglican archdiocese in Perth then relocated to the Catholic Sisters of mercy orphanage in Subiaco as there was no facility by the Church of England to take them in. They were ages 11 and 8 respectively and stayed as domestic servants till they were placed in an ‘assimilation house’ in Wembley where they were employed in Perth to pick up white men during the war to find a white husband. |
‘Great Uncles Ted, George, Arthur’
2017
122 x 136.5cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre, Mica Gold and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is from a photograph of Julie Dowling’s maternal great uncles. From left to right they are Edward, George, and Arthur Latham. The image was captured at the funeral of Georges boss. This image is significant as the brothers had not met together for some time and met at the funeral by coincident due to the distance each brother had been placed in work by their white father Francis Arthur Latham a surveyor for ‘Lord’ Forrest. The location of the funeral is not known but assumed to be near Dongara in WA.
‘Unknown: Dyilima Gabi (Carrying Water)’
2017
95 x 120cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre, Mica Gold and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an image of two unknown young women walking water from a well or river for the use of their white boss men or lady. They carry tins full of water over their shoulders. This was a common job for many First Nation people as it was deemed a menial job for slave labour. Slave labour that had already been universally outlawed in the 1860’s throughout the world was still in effect in Australia up until the 1970’s and some would argue modern slavery continued today.
‘Granny Mary’
2017
100 x 120cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Mica Gold on canvas
Description: From an image of Julie Dowling’s maternal great grandmother Mary Latham (nee Oliver) from the Badimaya First Nation from Warriedar and Wygee Stations.
Mary was used and kept away from other First nation people to use her skills as tracker and to find water and other resources. It’s understood that she was abused and exploited and used as slave labour firstly by the white man who fathered her and then subsequently her husband Francis Arthur Latham.
The white man who fathered her took her and her mother as human exhibits to England. On her return, her mother tried to escape with her but was thwarted in the effort. Subsequently she was moved to away to work in Kalgoorlie as slave labour in many of the mining boarding houses as a domestic servant where she was picked of to be ‘wife’ to Latham whom she had 9 children.
‘Y.an Guwa (Going Home),’
2015
60 x 121cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre, Mica Gold on canvas
Description:
This painting is about my grandmother, Mary Dowling.
My grandmother was taken away from her Badimaya mother when she was almost 11 years old and her sister Dorothea was almost 8 years old.
She worked many hours at the orphanage and my grandmother was placed into unpaid child labour in the laundry at St. Joseph’s Orphanage, Subiaco.
My grandmother was taken away by her white father who was a surveyor for Lord Forrest using my great grandmother as slave labour. He left them both at an Anglican Church but as there was no orphanage attached to the church the Sisters of Mercy took them in to work for them from the age of 11 & 8 years old as child slave labour.
My grandmother was a ticket collector on the trams that used to run through Perth during WW2. Many young ‘quarter-caste’ women were placed into assimilation houses with white matrons. My grandmother’s assimilation house was in Wembley. This is where she is seated in front of in this portrait.
Each job was given in high traffic zones where service men during the war would be located so that they would be more likely to be proposed to by white men. During this time, Original sovereign Nations people were not allowed into Perth without a permit by an employer. There was a curfew in effect with the infamous ‘red line’ of racial segregation right up until 1954.
Reference;
Badimaya Dictionary: An Aboriginal Language of Western Australia, 1st edn., Geraldton, WA, Bundiyarra – Irra Wangga Language Center and Yamaji Languages Aboriginal Corporation, 2014.
‘Biluny Babanyu (White Friend)’
2015
60 x 121cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre, Mica Gold and Plastic on canvas
Description:
This painting is about my grandmother, Mary Dowling (nee Latham) and one of her friends named ‘Teeny’ who grew up together at St. Josephs Orphanage.
My grandmother and her sister Dorothea were left at an Anglican Church by their white father but they didn't have an orphanage so the Sisters of Mercy at St. Joseph’s orphanage took them in to work as domestic servants.
They were left by their father when they were 11 & 8 years old because the law of the time said that "quarter caste women must marry white".
There is a myth in my family that they were treated very well because they were photographed often as proof that the assimilation process was kind and just to children taken away from their mothers.
But they both described it to me and my mother that it was far from the case. Both were made to work many hours in the laundry (where my grandmother was put to work) and the kitchen (where my Aunty was put to work).
Teeny was one of the many girls who were raised at the orphanage as possibly a foundling. The Orphanage was racially segregated between black and whites for some of the time as it was the legal obligation of the orphanage to do so.
My grandmother was allowed to make friends with class mates early on but her education was disallowed when she reached grade 6 and the white students went on to graduate with higher education certification.
Behind the my grandmother is the roof of St. Vincent’s Foundling home where my grandmother worked from the age of 11 until she was placed into an assimilation house with other girls so that they would marry white men which was the law of the time for all ‘quarter-caste’ women to do so.
Teeny and my grandmother remained friend for some time but separated ways for many years and when my grandfather passed away my grandmother searched for many of her old friends and met Teeny again and they remained friends until my grandmother passed away.
Reference;
Badimaya Dictionary: An Aboriginal Language of Western Australia, 1st edn., Geraldton, WA, Bundiyarra – Irra Wangga Language Center and Yamaji Languages Aboriginal Corporation, 2014.
‘Ruby-dhanu Babanyu (Ruby my friend from the north)’
2015
65x121cm
Acrylic, red ochre and mica gold on canvas
Description:
This painting is about my grandmother, Mary Dowling, and her friend from Broome whose name was Ruby.
My grandmother was taken away from her Badimaya mother when she was almost 11 years old and her sister Dorothea was almost 8 years old.
Both were made to work many hours at the orphanage and my grandmother was placed into unpaid child labour in the laundry at St. Joseph’s Orphanage, Subiaco.
My grandmother was taken away by her white father who was a surveyor for Lord Forrest using my great grandmother as slave labour. He left them both at an Anglican Church but as there was no orphanage attached to the church the sisters of Mercy took them in to work for them from the age of 11 & 8 years old.
My grandmother lost track of where Ruby lived in Broome but we assumed she must have married a white man as my grandmother had done as they were both housed together after being taken out of the orphanage to assimilate which was the law at that time.
Ruby worked in 2 picture theatres as an usherette and my grandmother was a ticket collector on the trams that used to run through Perth during WW2. Many young ‘quarter-caste’ women were placed into assimilations houses with white matrons. My grandmother’s assimilation house was in Wembley.
Each job was given in high traffic zones where service men during the war would be located so that they would be more likely to be proposed to by white men. During this time, Original sovereign Nations people were not allowed into Perth without a permit by an employer. There was a curfew in effect with the infamous ‘red line’ of racial segregation right up until 1954.
Reference;
Badimaya Dictionary: An Aboriginal Language of Western Australia, 1st edn., Geraldton, WA, Bundiyarra – Irra Wangga Language Center and Yamaji Languages Aboriginal Corporation, 2014.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Biluny(White)’
2017
46cm x 30 cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl learning the English words such as ‘white’. She is surrounded by aura of found objects.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
This image is part of a series of icons showing the many chores performed by the stolen generation after they were taken away from their culture and families. Unpaid child slave labour was common within state institutions and in missions right up until the late 1970’s.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Mawurdu (Black)’
2017
46cm x 30 cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl learning the English words such as ‘black’. She is surrounded by aura of found objects.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
This image is part of a series of icons showing the many chores performed by the stolen generation after they were taken away from their culture and families. Unpaid child slave labour was common within state institutions and in missions right up until the late 1970’s.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Gurriya (One)’
2017
46cm x 30 cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl learning the English words such as ‘one’. She is surrounded by aura of found objects.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
This image is part of a series of icons showing the many chores performed by the stolen generation after they were taken away from their culture and families. Unpaid child slave labour was common within state institutions and in missions right up until the late 1970’s.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Binma (Red)’
2017
46cm x 30 cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl learning the English words such as ‘red’. She is surrounded by aura of found objects.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
This image is part of a series of icons showing the many chores performed by the stolen generation after they were taken away from their culture and families. Unpaid child slave labour was common within state institutions and in missions right up until the late 1970’s.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Guwiyarlara (Green)’
2017
46cm x 30 cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl learning the English words such as ‘green’. She is surrounded by aura of found objects.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
This image is part of a series of icons showing the many chores performed by the stolen generation after they were taken away from their culture and families. Unpaid child slave labour was common within state institutions and in missions right up until the late 1970’s.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Dhungga (Putting on)’
2017
46cm x 30 cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl putting on white-man’s clothing for the first time. She is surrounded by aura of found objects.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
This image is part of a series of icons showing the many chores performed by the stolen generation after they were taken away from their culture and families. Unpaid child slave labour was common within state institutions and in missions right up until the late 1970’s.
‘Self Portrait: Balu (She)’
2017
24.5 x 29.5cm
Acrylic and Plastic on canvas
Description:
Self-portrait by Julie Dowling.
Throughout the history of art many women in the arts have been paid less than male artists and are given less opportunity to show their art and ideas to the world.
In Australia the majority of artists are women and of that majority a great number are First Nation women.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Bindmanda (Lightning)’
2016
16 x 36cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl surrounded by rain and Bindmanda (lightning).
Often children who were taken away would wish for rain and lightning to scare away evil spirits around them.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Marun (Quandong)’
2016
16 x 36cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl surrounded by leaves and fruit from the Marun (Quandong) fruit tree she wishes she could eat.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Garu Gabi (Quiet Water)’
2016
16 x 36cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young angry girl sitting between the sun, sky and water with her face in the center of a crucifix symbolic of the mission or orphanage that many were stolen to in order to assimilate.
Garu Gabi (Quiet Water) is about how children were often bullied to keep their emotions to themselves within missions and government institutions.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Gugurdung (Wildflowers)’
2016
16 x 36cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl remembering the season at which time yellow everlasting flowers would bloom in her home country. Often children were taken thousands of miles away from their families and home country to be assimilated. This practice continues today with the 2nd stolen generation.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Maadya (Boss)’
2016
16 x 36cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl considering for the first time what the concept of a boss-man or boss-lady really means. In her body and face are petals of a flower slowly falling away.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Badya (Wild)’
2015
20 x45cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl reacting against the derogatory judgment by a boss-lady or boss-man calling her “wild”.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Birri-Birri (Butterfly)’
2015
20 x45cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl watching a Birri Birri flying and considering its freedom while contemplating running away from the boss-lady back to her home country and family. Many children ran away from the 99 institutions located across WA during the 1st stolen generation.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Garang Garang (Sunrise)’
2015
20 x45cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl watching the sun rise and remembering her own family would be watching it too while she’s in a location far away.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Murdi (Cold)’
2015
20 x45cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl looking at the weave of a blanket at a mission school where she’s being trained to be a domestic servant.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Bayadya (Brush)’
2015
20 x45cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl considering for the first time her hair being brushed to be ‘presentable’ while being assimilated into being a servant for a boss-man or boss-lady.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Wadyanda (Causing fire)’
2015
20 x45cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl surrounded by fir spreading.
Often children who were taken away would wish for ancestors to cause for them to be released so they could go home rather than be assimilated into being domestic servants/slaves.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
‘Icon to a Stolen Child: Dharma (Covering)’
2015
20 x45cm
Acrylic, Red Ochre and Plastic on canvas
Description: This is an icon showing a young girl wearing white-man’s clothing for the first time and feeling the disconnection, it brings from her family & culture.
Part of an ongoing series since 1990 depicting members of the stolen generation of First Nation children in Australia.
