Our Unbroken Line: The Griffiths Family is about many things. It is a big story. It is about my grandmother, Dinah Dingle, who was born before the arrival of white men and survived colonization. Her people were forced to move from their Country to cattle stations (ranches) to learn about white man’s living. They were forced to work on the stations, like slaves. The only pay they received was flour, sugar, tea, tobacco, and some clothes. They were not allowed to speak their own language on the station and were taught how to say, “Yes Mr. Boss” and “Yes Mrs. Boss.” Some still talk like that today. In 1967 after an important referendum was passed in Australia, our people were removed from stations to towns and their lives changed again for the worse.
This exhibition is about the stories before colonization. My mother Peggy Madij Griffiths was born on Newry Station and did not experience her mother’s traditional way of life. She only learned about the history of her Miriwoong people and Country from her mother and grandparents.
I am telling the world what happened to our people many, many years ago before I was born. It is much easier telling the story through art and animation and videos. These stories have been passed down from generation to generation and they will be told for many generations to come so that our great-grandchildren will know what our mother was told. These stories were not written down in any way, but passed down through storytelling and art.
This exhibition is about the many changes that occurred in our people’s lives over a short period of time. Today we are still suffering from our past. It is important that the true history of our people be told. That is why we are trying to keep our stories strong and ensure that they will be passed down to the younger generations to come.
Finally, this exhibition is about our mother, Peggy Griffiths, who is a great artist and mentor to me, my sister Jan Baljagil Gunjaka Griffiths, and to my granddaughters, Delany Ngugnuk Griffiths, Cathy Marawuk Binbirridj Ward, Anita Churchill, and Kelly-Ann Ngadjil Drill.
–DORA GERRGNGARRI GRIFFITHS, Curator
Dora Griffiths and Jan Griffiths undertook artist residencies at Kluge-Ruhe from October 11-25, 2024. They led an Artist Talk and an Artist-led Tour of the exhibition Our Unbroken Line: The Griffiths Family. They recorded a podcast episode for Aboriginal Art in America with Henry Skerritt at WTJU. They led a hands-on artmaking workshop for children using air-dry clay and worked jointly on two creative projects. The first was a sewing project with Marcy Linton’s UVA class using block-printed fabric from Waringarri Arts. The second was a screenprinting project at local printshop Infinite Repeats through which they produced three print editions. Dora and Jan Griffith’s residency was supported by Creative Australia.
Dora Griffiths is an artist, curator and arts administrator of the Miriwoong and Ngarinyman peoples. She was born in Kununurra, Western Australia, where she lives with her five children and fifteen grandchildren. Dora has been a director of the Waringarri Aboriginal Arts board and the Chair for several years. She completed an arts-worker extension program in 2012 in which she learned art industry skills including conservation and in 2018 she earned a Certificate in Cross Cultural Conservation and Heritage from the University of Melbourne. In 2019, Griffiths participated in an Art Gallery of Western Australia internship program, and has since curated numerous exhibitions including, The Alternative Archive (2019) and Open Borders (2022), which toured regionally throughout Western Australia. In 2023 she was awarded the East Kimberley Aboriginal Achievement Award for her outstanding contribution to culture and community.
Jan Griffiths is a dedicated and prolific artist primarily working across painting, ceramics and poetry. Her work explores personal family narratives which have also included multi-media installations, fashion and photography. She has exhibited extensively and presented ceramic demonstrations at galleries and festivals within Australia such as the Ceramics Triennial. She was a finalist in the 2018 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA), the 2020 Indigenous Fashion Awards, and exhibited at the 2021 Indian Ocean Craft Triennial.
Our Unbroken Line: The Griffiths Family is curated by Dora Griffiths, an artist, curator and arts administrator of the Miriwoong and Ngarinyman peoples. She was born in Kununurra, Western Australia, where she lives with her five children and fifteen grandchildren. Dora has been a director of the Waringarri Aboriginal Arts board and the Chair for several years. She completed an arts-worker extension program in 2012 in which she learned art industry skills including conservation and in 2018 she earned a Certificate in Cross Cultural Conservation and Heritage from the University of Melbourne. In 2019, Griffiths participated in an Art Gallery of Western Australia internship program, and has since curated numerous exhibitions including, The Alternative Archive (2019) and Open Borders (2022), which toured regionally throughout Western Australia. In 2023 she was awarded the East Kimberley Aboriginal Achievement Award for her outstanding contribution to culture and community.
To view the artwork labels and wall text for the exhibition, click the link below:
Our Unbroken Line: The Griffiths Family Wall Text and Labels
Our Unbroken Line: The Griffiths Family is presented in partnership with Waringarri Aboriginal Arts and Creative Australia. It is supported by Creative Australia and UVA Arts.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are warned that this website contains the names and images of deceased people.
