Learning from Country 2017
at Fisher Library, University of Sydney, May to July 2017
An exhibition of original artwork and associated materials showcasing the journey behind a series of multi-award-winning books produced by Nadia Wheatley and Ken Searle, whether as author, illustrator, designer or mentor.
Papunya School Book of Country and History, by staff and students Papunya School,
When I was Little, Like You, by Mary Malbunka
Walking with the Seasons in Kakadu, by Diane Lucas and Ken Searle
Going Bush, by Nadia Wheatley and Ken Searle, in association with students from inner-Sydney schools
Playground — Stories from Country and from Inside the Heart, compiled by Nadia Wheatley and illustrated by Ken Searle. Indigenous consultant Dr Jackie Huggins
Australians All, Growing Up in Australia from the Ice Age to the Apology, by Nadia Wheatley and Ken Searle
Published over the course of a decade by independent Australian publisher, Allen & Unwin, these innovative books celebrate a way of learning that puts Country at the centre.
This exhibition showcases the journey behind the production of these books — a journey that began when Nadia Wheatley and Ken Searle worked as consultants at the school at Papunya (Northern Territory), and were introduced to the Indigenous principles of learning that inspire and inform these books.
Later work that Nadia and Ken have done with students in Sydney shows that this way of learning is just as effective when the ‘Country’ is the city and students’ families come from homelands scattered across the world.
