Aboriginal people were essential to the development of the pastoral industry in the Pilbara during the 20th century, yet their role as workforce is often unacknowledged.
This project showed the complexities of the Aboriginal contribution to and experiences and memories of station life and family legacy, traced through oral history, photography, and installations.
A collaboration between Banyjima, Yinhawangka, and Nyiyaparli people, elders of the IBN Aboriginal Corporation, anthropologist Andrew Dowding, photographer Claire Martin (WA), contemporary Aboriginal artist Reko Rennie, and FORM.
“There is no simple story …”
Says Lorraine Injie, Chairperson of the IBN Corporation, adding “… dispossession left a legacy, the effect of which continues to this day”
Works from the project were collected by the Western Australian Museum and the National Gallery of Australia as an acknowledgement of the unique and landmark documentation of history from an Aboriginal perspective of the project, in combination with artistic excellence. The publication was shortlisted for a MAPDA award. The project led to a future partnership with the IBN Corporation on Remember Me.
Photography by Claire Martin. Images courtesy of FORM.
