Tracing the Art of a Stolen Generation: The Child Artists of Carrolup

Hundreds of artworks created by Aboriginal children at the Carrolup Native Settlement in Western Australia were sold in the UK in 1950s. The truth of this story is shared through the children’s drawings and words. Displayed alongside historical documents and archival photographs, they tell a powerful story of survival.

This exhibition connects Noongar with UK communities, shining a light on our shared histories. It offers hope for renewed relationships between Australia’s First Nations peoples and the United Kingdom. We invite you to be part of the healing journey of the descendants of the child artists, the people of the Noongar Nation and help us recover these precious artworks and reconnect them with Noongar families.

The John Curtin Gallery (JCG) at Curtin University in WA, guided by the Carrolup Elders Reference Group, hopes to further engage with these artworks by retracing Rutter’s exhibition tour, and reconnecting the artworks with living descendants as part of their healing journey.

JCG is the caretaker of the Herbert Mayer collection of Carrolup artworks, originally part Florence Rutter’s private collection.  The return of these artworks to Western Australian in 2013, known as the Herbert Mayer collection, is part of this amazing story.