Steaphan Paton - Wallung Githa Unsettled

Central to the work of the Wallung Githa Unsettled exhibition is the ‘White Woman of Gippsland,’ a controversial figure said to have been captive to the ‘ruthless savages’ in the 1840s. This story many regard as a cover for pastoralists fighting the Gunai people for her ‘rescue’, while truly engaging in an asymmetric war for land and pasture.

Steaphan Paton’s exhibition at Anna Pappas Gallery is an installation alongside a collaborative series of images, co-authored by photographer Cameron Cope, exploding the euphemism of ‘settlement’ and communicating the violent truth of Australia’s colonial past.

‘Wallung Githa’ is Gunai language for ‘my stones’, a reference to ownership of country in Paton’s work, while the photographic series ‘Unsettled’ is an interpretation and expression of stories set on highly sensitive battle sites, massacre sites, original homesteads, watering holes and ceremonial grounds in Gunaikurnai country.