To be able to say that we are different and we’re never going to be the same, that this is our story about the Canning Stock Route and this is how we’re telling it. Even if people just take away that little bit, it’s a huge step. It’s not one way of interpreting or telling a story, it’s so many different ways and this exhibition explains so many levels and so many hard years of working with artists. – Louise Mengil, 2009

Acquisition

In late 2008 the National Museum of Australia acquired the Canning Stock Route Project’s collection of artwork and related cultural materials.

The National Museum of Australia regards this collection as one of truly national significance, providing a unique archive of Indigenous social and cultural histories. It is an important addition to the nation’s heritage and history collections.
Craddock Morton, speaking as Director, National Museum of Australia, 2008.

The National Museum joined the Canning Stock Route Project as a collaborative partner to develop the collection into a major touring exhibition Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route, which launched in Canberra in July 2010. For senior artists the prospect of the show and their stories being exhibited in the nation’s political capital was a major coup. They were delighted by the news that the Museum had permanently acquired the Canning Stock Route collection with the support of the Federal Government, which had described it as ‘a national treasure’.

The Museum’s Canning Stock Route Collection includes around 140 artworks including 93 paintings and 25 baskets as well as 19 artefacts and ceremonial items. From this collection 90 of these works were featured in Yiwarra Kuju: the Canning Stock Route along with 15 historical loans borrowed from various collections.