Due to demolition works at Awaba House MAC yapang and Three Bears Cafe will be closed from 9 - 13 September, and 16 - 20 September. The art museum and cafe will operate as normal on weekends (9am - 3pm Saturday and Sunday) and weekend events will continue as planned.
Conceived by the gallery’s Aboriginal Reference Group in response to the National Apology to the Stolen Generations and funded through the Australia Council for the Arts, yapang marruma coincides with the first anniversary of the Apology.
Through five oral histories, objects, photographic portraits, archival material, excerpts from government reports and site-specific artworks, yapang marruma examines how past government policy has affected the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in particular the removal of children from their families and communities. The profoundly personal accounts not only tell of individual experiences but also provide a backdrop to the universal story of Aboriginal people over past generations.
Project participants have worked with Aboriginal arts workers – artist Cherie Johnson, photographer Mervyn Bishop, writer Ray Kelly, curator Donna Fernando and sound artist Rod Smith, to present their stories in a way which provides a poignant journey for the Aboriginal community, as well as educating the wider community about this sadly significant aspect of Australian history. The journey is further reinforced through selected works by nationally respected Aboriginal artists Tracey Moffatt, Destiny Deacon, Leah King-Smith and Judy Watson.
Image above: Destiny Deacon, Adoption, 1993/2000. Lightjet print from Polaroid original, 100 x 100cm edition of 15
Image below: Destiny Deacon, Over the fence (from the series Sad and Bad) 2000. Type C photograph, 103 x 124 cm
Museum of Art and Culture Lake Macquarie, 1A First Street, Booragul 2284 View in Google Maps
1A First Street , Booragul 2284