Tracing the Swan follows the story of the settlement of the Swan River Colony with the swan as the central character in artworks about race, difference and the unexpected.

In a play between fiction and reality, the black swan is traced throughout the history of the colonisation of Western Australia up to the present day.From historical to contemporary artworks, the exhibition explores how WA was presented to potential settlers, how its landscape was impacted and has changed over time, and how the swan stands as emblem of WA against this tide of changes in its real environment.

ARTISTS: Deborah Bonar, Portia Bennett, Lance Tjyllyungoo Chadd, Frederick Clause, Jo Darbyshire, Valentine Delawarr, Eva Fernandez, Norman Hawkins, W.J. Huggins, Tony Jones, Johannes Keulemans, Yvonne Kickett, Bethamy Linton, Walter Meston, Alan Muller, Ron Nyistzor, Ross Potter, John Sands, Robert Seymour, Ernest Stocks, John Tallis, Rover Thomas, Charles Wittenoom.

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: 29 November – 20 December 2020