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The remote Kimberley region in the north of Western Australia has been shaped by a thriving pastoral industry that began in the late 1880's and was built on the contribution, knowledge and commitment of Aboriginal people. What could have continued as a complex yet prosperous cross-cultural industry abruptly ended with the introduction of equal wages for Aboriginal pastoral workers in the late 1960's.
As with many histories that fill Australia's collective memory, the Aboriginal contribution to this industry has been little recognised or understood. In the Saddle - On the Wall tells the stories of life on these cattle stations through the voices of the Aboriginal people who worked on them and the roles contemporary art has played in ensuring cultural resilience.
Driven by senior artists from across the Kimberley the paintings, digital records and publications that have become In the saddle - On the Wall contain important historical and deeply personal accounts of a time when Aboriginal people were the back-bone of the Kimberley cattle industry. This was a period characterized by injustice and displacement, new experiences of cross-cultural relations, journeys through Country and a deep sense of pride. It was Aboriginal people's knowledge of their Country, the seasons and stories that shaped it, which enabled the pastoral industry to succeed in the region. As artist and former stockman Patrick Mung Mung remarks, ''White men knew that we were great in this place.''