Truth Talk: Threads of History

In conversation with Wajarri Nyarlu/Menang Yok, Community Engagement Facilitator JCG, Patricia Ryder

Once Known Truth Talks invite not only remembrance, but reckoning – creating a space where shared history can be discussed honestly, and where truth supports healing, education, and ongoing cultural continuity.

Patricia Ryder will speak on amplifying First Nations voices in places originally designed to project colonial authority, and how the act of reclaiming these spaces challenges the official narrative of settlement and progress by making invasion, dispossession and resistance visible, and affirming living sovereignty and ongoing connection to country. It turns sites that benefited from harmful policies into spaces of public responsibility and accountability, while supporting healing and stronger relationships through shared understanding.

By interpreting history in the very places it occurred, truth-telling can educate the wider public in a powerful, local way, and encourage meaningful reconciliation and practical change.

Once Known at the Old Perth Boys’ School presents reproductions of the delicate and culturally significant artworks created by Aboriginal children forcibly taken from their families and detained at the Carrolup Native Settlement in the 1940s. Lost overseas for over 60 years, these artworks came home to Noongar Boodja, providing the opportunity for sharing truth, healing, and reconciliation.

Supported By: Lotterywest and the City of Perth

Exhibition open as part of Boorloo Heritage Festival: 1 April - 30 April

Header Image: Truth talks at Once Known, Curtin 139 St George's Terrace. Photo by Quin Song.

Photography

This event may be photographed and/or videoed, and images may be used for promotional and marketing purposes, including social media. If you do not wish to be photographed or videoed, please notify staff.

Accessibility

Everyone is welcome. Plan your visit to Curtin 139 St Georges Terrace.