Minerals Council of Australia:
Past Events
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trust“One has to look hard to find material evidence of the impact of the mining industry on the Ngaanyatjarra peoples and their country. Yet mining has been inscribed deeply on to the cultural and economic landscapes of the Ngaanyatjarra Lands.” Jan Turner, curator, 2003.‘trust’ is a multi media exhibition created by Ngaanyatjarra people out of their experiences with the minerals industry that began when European Australian prospectors entered Ngaanyatjarra country in the 1930s — at the same time Ngaanyatjarra people were having their first sustained contact with missionaries and intermittent contact with ‘doggers’. The exhibition itself was a product of the curator’s research into Ngaanyatjara responses to exploration. It began with a work by Stewart Davies, who used acrylic paint on canvas to express his thoughts, frustrations and desires. “I’ve been working on all these mines”, is just one of a number of works to be displayed at the 2006 Minerals Council of Australia’s Sustainable Development conference. The painting by Mr Davies, highlighting strong personal links with the industry, sparked many subsequent conversations over cups of tea about copper mining in the “Western Mining times” (1960s), and from there the inspiration for paintings and artworks relating to individual experiences with the industry were born. The ‘trust’ exhibition was originally installed in 2003 at the Tjulyuru Regional Arts Gallery at Warburton on the Ngaanyatjarra Lands. The exhibition subsequently ran for a year at the Australian Prospectors and Miners Hall of Fame, Kalgoorlie, where it was opened in February 2004 by the Prime Minister, the Hon John Howard and Mr West, the Ngaanyatjarra Chairman of the Tjulyuru Regional Arts & Civic Centre. At this venue it became a Goldfields regional arts event at the 2004 Perth International Arts Festival. The MCA Sustainable Development Conference provides an opportunity for a subset of the ‘trust’ works to be seen in a capital city for the first time. 14 of the works shown in Kalgoorlie in 2003 will be on display at the 2006 Sustainable Development Conference, plus one new work. The works focus on the critical role of trust in building mutually beneficial outcomes from the development of natural resources. “We can’t trust anybody that will say “I will do this for you, or do that for you” – that person will be sitting under the tree waiting for that promise. The trust is when we work together on the ground.” McKain West, 2004.  Reproduction of the cover of the ‘trust’ catalogue, adapted from the artwork of Bonnie Yates, “Ngaanyatjarra Country, plane and transport” (2002)
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