We’re just 11 days away from the launch of our digital book Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe which you will be able to purchase and download from Apple, Kobo or Amazon.
It has been a long journey since I first viewed artworks by the Carrolup child artists (2013) and first met Noelene White, daughter of teacher Noel White, and learnt about life at Carrolup Native Settlement (2016). I started writing the book the same year, inspired by the story and encouraged by Noelene and by Cathy Coomer, a niece of Carrolup artist Revel Cooper.
The book is 147,000 words long and uses ‘faces’ and ‘voices’ of the past to tell the enthralling story of Carrolup, providing access to a wealth of photographs, pictures of the children’s art and schoolwork, letters, documents, media clippings and more.
Ash Whitney, our web developer from Neath (South Wales), and I have developed a new promotion page for the book in which the story and its importance are summarised. You can see five example double pages from the book by clicking on the thumbnails under the image of the cover. There are also a number of early reviews of the book, along with some videos and other content.
This is an important and compelling account of a time that catches so many strands of the lives of indigenous children in Western Australia in the 1940’s and 50’s. This is still recent history for the First Nation peoples and its consequences continue to flow through the fabric of our community. The author has woven the contemporary records into a compelling and revealing story. The absence of an overt judgmental tone strengthens the space for readers to reach their own understanding.’ Graham Droppert
The web page also contains badges for the three suppliers of the book. Clicking on one of the badges will allow you to purchase and download the book from your selected supplier in the country or region in which you reside. Connection is priced at $9.99 (Australian), or the roughly equivalent price in other currencies, e.g. £4.99 (UK), $6.99 (US), $8.99 (Canada) or 5.99 Euros.
In addition to the new book promotion and purchase/download web pages, we have modified the home page of the website and developed a new page containing testimonials for The Carrolup Story project.
Before settling down to some other work, I’ll leave you with one more testimonial for the book.
Connection is a meticulously researched story. It is told in a straightforward and unsentimental way but it cuts straight through to the heart and I wept reading it. That this random group of traumatised children, despite what they suffered, could be led to produce art of a calibre that impressed the world is truly remarkable. It speaks to the important resource we have in the wisdom and talents of our First Nation People.’ A J Nevell