The Strelley Mob are the descendants of the Pilbara pastoral workers who went on strike in 1946 and went on to run their own mines and stations. The stories of the Strelley Mob – of hunting, pearl shell gathering, mining and organising themselves against a hostile government – were written and illustrated by elders for their children when they opened their own school.
These original story books are jewels of Pilbara history, artefacts of a creative community making their own art and literature after generations of struggle. Their drawings, including some the first known art by Nyaparu (William) Gardiner, were included in the exhibition and newly animated, projected alongside paintings and artefacts that bring the history of the Strelley Mob to life.
Curated by Darren Jorgensen and Barbara & Sharon Hale, with stories animated by Vladimir Todorović.
The beginnings of this exhibition lie in several pivotal moments of the Pilbara’s history. One is the 1946 Pilbara Strike, that took hundreds of pastoral workers off the stations, to live collectively in camps that mined, gathered buffel grass and collected pearl shell. They lived independently for decades, battling the state government over their right to sell minerals. A second beginning lies in the Strike Mob’s purchase of Strelley Station in 1971, and the founding of Strelley School and the Strelley Illustrated Literature Production Centre a handful of years later.
The exhibition featured stories told, transcribed, translated and illustrated by the strikers. When they were first published, these stories were read aloud in Nyangumarta to the community — an Aboriginal literature produced for Aboriginal readers. A final beginning lied in the animations made from these books, bringing to life just some of these hundreds of these books of Nyangumarta art and literature.
The Strelley Mob featured artworks by Nyaparu (William) Gardiner, Solomon Cocky, Sam Fullbrook, Rose Murray, Noel McKenna, Fred Rurla Bradman and others. Stories written and told by Monty Minyjun Hale, Bruce Turruwanti Thomas, Ginger Moogra, Sharon Hale and Barbara Hale.
Exhibition: 9 May – 8 July 2024
Supported By: Lotterywest
Project Sponsors: Nomads Charitable and Educational Foundation, The Australian Research Council, DLGSC Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre and the School of Design, University of Western Australia.
Header Image: The Convoy. Animation made with archival photographs from David Morgan, Bobby Jones and Ronnie Hall, The Convoy, Strelley Literature Production Centre, Strelley, 1980. Animation: Esther Forest Direction: Vladimir Todorovic. (Still Image)
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