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The massacre marked the first time British subjects were tried and executed for the murder of Aboriginal people.
When Watson visited Myall Creek in preparation for the exhibition, she was inspired to incorporate the environment into her artwork.
This included using ochre and clay found at the site, as well as muslin cloth she wrapped around “witness trees”, in a healing process that involved “bandaging” the trees.
Judy Watson was inspired to incorporate the environment at the Myall Creek site into her artwork.
“Trauma is held within people, but it’s also held within the environment,” Watson said.
“I was thinking about those trees. Even if they weren’t there when the massacre occurred, the blood that was spilt comes down into the ground, and the trees grow out of that ground.
“They are standing there as sentinels and they are watching and witnessing what occurred in this country.”
The muslin was wrapped around 28 trees – each representing a victim of the massacre.
Robert Andrew’s work, Country Ground Earth Sand Time and Space, at the exhibition.
Violence associated with settler expansion throughout northern NSW had forced a group of Wirrayaraay people to seek reprieve on the property of a settler in exchange for their labour. The stockmen and Wirrayaraay people came to enjoy each other’s company, spending their evenings together singing and dancing by the campfire.
On the evening of June 10, 1838, the Wirrayaraay people were preparing for their evening meal when a group of armed convicts arrived. They tied up the frightened Wirrayaraay people and led them away to be slaughtered.
The massacre was reported by station manager William Hobbs, the local police superintendent and another settler, and 11 of the 12 convicts responsible were found guilty and hanged.
Another of Robert Andrew’s work at the Myall Creek and Beyond exhibition.
Exhibition curator Bianca Beetson hopes it will spark community conversations about the truth of our shared history and unite Australians with a shared goal of reconciliation.
“When I pitched that we would tour the show, I hoped that there would be local conversations that could be curated around local massacres, and help bring forward that reconciliation agenda.
“It’s a shared story – not just an Aboriginal story.”
Community engagement was an important part of the project’s two-year development. Artists participated in the annual anniversary memorial of the massacre at the Myall Creek site, and the creation of the “Myall Creek Gathering Cloak”.
Some of the artists featured in the exhibition visiting the Myall Creek site.
The cloak, made of possum skin, was an effort of the Friends of Myall Creek Memorial Group, which includes ancestors of the survivors as well as the perpetrators of the massacre, and will be on display at the exhibition.
Other artists featured in the exhibition include Robert Andrew, Fiona Foley, Julie Gough, Colin Isaacs, Jolea Isaacs, David and Tim Leha with Quarralia Knox, Laurie Nilsen, Judy Watson and Warraba Weatherall.
The exhibition will run until April 24.