Carty, JohnDavenport, CarlyLa Fontaine, Monique2015-12-101/01/2012http://hdl.handle.net/1885/54583History of the Canning Stock Route told by the paintings and stories of Aboriginal people127 works4 months; 127 piecesResearch background 2010 was the centenary of the Canning Stock Route (CSR). The CSR Project was developed to ensure that the Aboriginal experience and view of that road, and the broader Australian history it ushered into the Western Desert, were documented and displayed. Research Contribution The CSR research project operated across the Western Desert region from 2006-10 and recorded over 200 oral histories in 12 languages, from over 100 Aboriginal contributors, and collected 170 paintings by Aboriginal participants, documenting their own place-based view of history. Hundreds of hours of video footage were recorded and 20000 photos documenting the sites, people and stories of the CSR. Carty also conducted a parallel archival research project that encompassed all of the documented historical evidence (police, govt, station, court and private records). These were cross-referenced with the Aboriginal evidence to produce a cross-cultural perspective on CSR history. Yiwarra Kuju: the Canning Stock Route was the culmination of that research project. The research also underpinned two major publications: the exhibition catalogue (NMA Press 2010), and Ngurra Kuju Waylja: Stories from the Canning Stock Route (MacMillan 2011). Research Significance The exhibition and publications were favourably reviewed in all major Australian newspapers and art magazines. The 123000 people who visited the exhibition remain a visitation record for the NMA. The exhibition also toured for 2 years, and was hosted at the Australian Museum, Sydney and Queensland Museum. It was selected as the cultural backdrop for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Perth, 2011. Overall, nearly 250000 people visited the exhibition in Australia. Yiwarra Kuju is now a smaller scale virtual exhibition hosted at Australian Embassies and High Commissions around the world. The physical exhibition is being redeveloped so that the research will become a permanent part of the NMA’s First Australians Galleries.2012-01-012024-03-03