21/04/2020
I had a bit of a breakthrough recently, as I have wanted to put a post on The Carrolup Story of the video-recording from back in 2005 of the late Uncle Angus Wallam sending a message to the President (Vice-Chancellor) of Colgate University. This was at the time that Ezzard […]
16/04/2020
I’ve just finished an amazing phone call! Received the following message from Dilip Parekh this morning: ‘Hello, just come across this site. What a great resource to bring back to life an amazing little chapter of the past that resonates so much with the present. Congratulations on a […]
15/04/2020
In the first weekend of November 1948, Frank and Myrtle Amos, members of the Native Rights and Welfare League, visited Carrolup as the guests of the Whites. They had previously hosted at their home two of the Carrolup boys who were involved in the Boans exhibition. After their […]
08/04/2020
‘When filmmaker and close friend Michael (Mike) Liu and I were first shown work of the Carrolup artists Revel Cooper, Parnell Dempster and Reynold Hart by our close Noongar friend Karen Hume in 2014, we were stunned by the beauty of these artworks and beguiled by the stories […]
18/03/2020
In an earlier blog, I described the early public acclaim the children of Carrolup received for their drawings and other work. John P Stokes, who had been editor of the Lord Forrest Centenary Booklet, in which five of the Carrolup children had their work included, asked the Department […]
10/03/2020
Several weeks ago while I was sorting through Noelene White’s family memorabilia relating to Carrolup, I came across a photograph I’d only ever seen in an ABC film about Carrolup. I’d been trying to find a copy of this photograph for ages. The photograph is the one above, […]
02/03/2020
Firstly, my apology for not posting any blogs recently, but I have been busy trying to finish writing the book about the Carrolup child artists. Very close to finishing that now, so I’m back blogging. In my last blogs, I focused on Mrs Florence Rutter’s visits to Carrolup […]
02/02/2020
In yesterday’s blog, I described the first two days of the visit of Florence Rutter and Vera Hack to Carrolup Native Settlement. Mrs Rutter’s words show clearly how highly she thought of the boys of Carrolup! ‘During the three days we spent at Carrolup we were able to […]
01/02/2020
Seventy years ago yesterday, Mrs Florence Rutter and her friend Vera Hack arrived for their two and a half day visit of Carrolup Native Settlement. This visit was not only special in its own right, but it triggered a series of important events over the following two years, […]
31/01/2020
Mrs Rutter returns to Perth after her tour of Australia and New Zealand in January 1950. She is approached by Mrs Vera Hack, who informs Florence that she is willing to drive her down to Carrolup and stay there with her as long as she likes. Florence then […]
30/01/2020
In the run-up to a special 70th Anniversary on the 2nd February this year, I have been telling the story of Florence Rutter’s involvement with the child artists of Carrolup in a series of blogs. In the first blog, I describe how Florence first visited Carrolup in July […]
29/01/2020
In my last blog, I described Mrs Florence Rutter’s first visit to Carrolup in July 1949. Whilst there, Mrs Rutter bought £5 worth of Carrolup drawings and designs. When she returned to Perth, Mrs Rutter had the drawings mounted on cardboard and covered with cellophane for protection. She […]
28/01/2020
One of the fascinating elements of the Carrolup Story is that the Aboriginal child artists had an ‘ambassador’ for their work, a 71-year old Englishwoman, Mrs Florence Rutter. Mrs Rutter was given permission by the Western Australian government to exhibit and sell the children’s art, first around Australia […]
23/01/2020
One of the puzzles in the Carrolup Story concerns the missing cine film that Mrs Vera Hack (later Gaarde) took of the Aboriginal boys of Carrolup Native Settlement on 1st February 1950. Vera told me about the film when I interviewed her at her home on 24th January 1986, […]
16/01/2020
John and I are now back in Perth after our trips to visit family in New Zealand and the UK, respectively. For me, it was wonderful to see my four children and grandson, as well as catch up with old close friends in Wales, England and Sweden. However, […]