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Traversing the west coast of Australia, Unknown Land: Mapping and Imagining Western Australia maps WA as seen through the eyes of those arriving from Europe in the early 1800s including professional artists, illustrators, surveyors, and explorers.

Over 150 works drawn from the State Art Collection, supplemented by key national and local loans, depict coastal views, landscapes, and detailed sketches of the flora and fauna as encountered by European explorers and settlers.  A highlight of the exhibition is the display of AGWA’s entire collection of colonial watercolours – the first time since 1979. These detailed works deliver surprisingly intimate and personal views of early European life in Western Australia. The exhibition explores the purpose of these early visual depictions, inviting visitors to reconsider the narrative conveyed, and it is a timely review of the early exploration of WA.

A counterpoint to the European impressions of WA is provided by Aboriginal artists Julie Dowling, Chris Pease and Shane Pickett. Their works interrupt and remind visitors that while the land was ‘unknown’ to European emigrants it has been home to the traditional owners of the land, the Aboriginal People, for thousands of years through the critical lens of today.

Exhibition runs from 17 September 2016 – 30 January 2017