Annual Report 2001-2002 - Western Australian Museum - The ...

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over 10 years. They showed their struggles, hopes and dreams in exploring a world that has
changed radically around them. The exhibition was launched with a celebratory performance
by San dancers and musicians and was run in conjunction with the First Nation exhibition, a
photographic display celebrating Aboriginal culture in Australia.
Andrea Williams: Wagyl
26 January – 26 February
The fiery Wagyl, an important ancestral Dreamtime being that lives in the Swan River, was recreated
by Noongar artist Andrea Williams in the Hackett Hall Foyer for the Perth International
Arts Festival. The sculpture in light, supported by MuseumLink, was a statement of Indigenous
tradition and an insistence on the strength and vitality of living Noongar culture. Anna Edmundson,
of the Department of Anthropology, curated the installation.
Sustainability WA
8 February – 3 March; March–May, 26 sites
Developed for the Department of Premier and Cabinet by the MuseumLink program, this
exhibition featured 18 Western Australians who are working towards a more sustainable future
through new technologies and the smart use of existing facilities across the state. Head of
History Dr Sue Graham-Taylor took a leading role in the curatorial development of this work.
The exhibition was toured to 26 regional centres and several metropolitan sites, and was also
installed as a virtual web-based exhibition.
Kemet Deshret: Black Land, Red Land—a Glimpse of Ancient Egypt
15 February – 27 March
The Museum’s prized collections of Egyptian artefacts, including stone tools pre-dating the
pharaohs, pottery, cosmetics and other objects, provided a rare insight into the daily life of the
ancient Egyptians and their views of the world and the afterlife.
Shedding Skin
15 March – 12 April
Shedding Skin, an installation art piece developed by Fremantle-based community artists Arif
and Audrey Satar and MuseumLink, comprised sculpture, soundscape, performance work and
a traditional display. The exhibition explored issues of race and refugees in Australian life and
the need for tolerance and humanity when approaching the topic of asylum seekers.
Across the Waters: Art and Craftwork by Asylum Seekers at the Port Hedland Detention
Centre
15 March – 6 May
Supported in Perth by MuseumLink and curated by Anna Edmundson of the Department of
Anthropology, this exhibition reflected the diversity and ethnic origins, cultures and social
backgrounds of Port Hedland detainees through tapestries, paintings, intricate paper sculptures,
and drawings and cards from children. The exhibition revealed some of the remarkable stories
of the centre’s residents—ordinary people living in extraordinary circumstances.
Aanpassen and Invisibility: Dutch Resettlement in Australia and Transpositions
9 April – 2 May
These two MuseumLink exhibitions explored issues faced by Dutch migrants to Western Australia,
through objects and artwork. Aanpassen and Invisibility, curated by Nonja Peters, Director of
the Migration, Ethnicity, Refugee and Citizenship Centre of Curtin University, exhibited objects
collected by Dutch migrants to Australia and explored the methods used to assist their
assimilation into the harsh and alien environment of Western Australia. Transpositions, curated
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT 2001–2002