Meagan Gerrard of the Coota Girls Aboriginal Corporation has received the ACHAA IMAGinE Award for Outstanding Contribution as an Aboriginal Curator, with Aleisha Lonsdale Highly Commended.
Ms Gerrard, a Gamillaraay and Wailwan woman, was honoured for the exhibition; Secrets of Dawn.
Secrets of Dawn showcases the lived experiences of the Coota Girls, former residents of the Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls.
Using the lens of Dawn, a magazine that served as a propagandised view of the Aborigines Protection Act (1909-1969) created by the NSW Aborigines Welfare Board, Meagan Gerrard collaborated with Coota Girls Survivors and descendants to deliver an innovative and powerful truth-telling experience. Meagan, the director of Secrets of Dawn, is a descendant of Coota Girls Survivor Aunty Lorraine Darcy Peeters.
Through this exhibition, Ms Gerrard has provided a powerful platform for the voice of the Coota Girls, blending contemporary personal narratives and artworks with historical content to offer a profound insight into intergenerational impacts of forcible removal and assimilation and their journey of healing and reconnection since.
Aboriginal Culture Heritage and Arts Association (ACHAA) NSW chairperson Jeanette Crew said "Meagan Gerrard's work is impactful truth-telling".
"The exhibition exemplifies how combining our artists work with historical content can be done to communicate challenging stories to a broader public," she said.
Ms Lonsdale, a Wiradjuri woman, was Highly Commended for her exhibition, Guwayu: for all time.
The poignant exhibition explored the parallel experiences of Aboriginal people living with the impact of dispossession, extermination and assimilation, and honoured the resistance of the broader First Nations peoples through activism and cultural practice.
"Aleisha's work continues to inspire, and we are proud to celebrate her contributions," Ms Crew said.
Aboriginal curators were also recognised in the open sections of the Museums and Galleries of NSW annual IMAGinE Awards with Mariko Smith receiving on behalf of the Australian Museum in the Exhibition Projects - Major Metropolitan Institutions Award for Her Name is Nanny Nellie Nciole Chaffey and the Murrook Culture Centre being Highly Commended in the Exhibition Projects Museums and Heritage - Small Organisations category.
