John Curtin Gallery brings Once Known to the Old Perth Boys' School for the first time as part of the Lotterywest Boorloo Heritage Festival. This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see the extraordinary artworks created by Aboriginal children forcibly taken from their families and detained at the Carrolup Native Settlement in the 1940s.
Lost overseas for more than 50 years, these artworks were rediscovered in New York and returned home to Noongar Boodja in 2013. They now stand as a testament to the resilience, creativity and enduring connection to Country of the Stolen Generations.
Once Known, which refers to the artists who have not yet been identified by name, serves as a powerful reminder that the children taken to Carrolup each have a name, a family and a story. The Old Perth Boys' School in the heart of Perth City, now known as Curtin 139 St Georges Terrace, was a place historically linked to colonial education models. In this exhibition, it serves as a place of knowledge sharing and truth-telling.
Once Known shares meticulous reproductions from the delicate originals, providing greater accessibility to the artworks in the lead up to the opening of the Carrolup Centre for Truth-telling within the John Curtin Gallery at Curtin University where the original artworks will be on year-round display from 2026.
John Curtin Gallery's Carrolup Engagement Advisor Kathleen Toomath, whose late mother Alma was a Carrolup artist, reflected on the impact of the artworks.
"It gives us a voice through the children's artworks to have conversations to help others learn about the truth of the past injustices applied against Aboriginal people and its continued impact today. The Centre gives me hope that my children, my grandchildren, will live in an Australia where they feel valued," Ms Toomath said.
Curated by former John Curtin Gallery Director Chris Malcolm, in consultation with the Carrolup Centre for Truth-telling Reference Group, Once Known seeks to reconnect families with these rarely seen artworks and to acknowledge the children who created them.
"Seven decades after Carrolup was closed, the Carrolup Centre for Truth-telling aims to not only ensure this story is more widely understood - and through it, a deeper understanding of the tragedy of the Stolen Generations - it also hopes to reconnect families with their ancestor's artworks by identifying more child artists from Carrolup that we, so far, have only been able to refer to as Once Known," Mr Malcolm said.
Once Known Exhibition:
- Where: Curtin 139 St Georges Terrace (Old Perth Boys' School)
- Lotterywest Boorloo Heritage Festival Opening Times: 4 April – 17 April 2025, weekdays 11am- 3pm.
- Exhibition reopens: 28 April 2025 - March 2026, weekdays (closed Wednesdays and public holidays) 11am - 4pm.
- Special events to be announced for Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week between May and July 2025.
- FREE ENTRY
This exhibition is made possible through the support of Lotterywest, BHP, Colgate University, City of Perth and over 750 supporters who committed to helping share the truth of the Stolen Generations through their support of the Carrolup Centre for Truth-telling.
For more information about the children's artworks and the Carrolup Centre for Truth- telling, visit here.
