Our Story: Aboriginal Chinese People in Australia

ABOUT THE EVENT

Celebrate the launch of Our Story: Aboriginal Chinese People in Australia with a reflective discussion featuring personal stories and family histories. 

Our Story: Aboriginal Chinese People in Australia is the outcome of a research project that focuses on the period since the gold rushes of the 1850s, when First Nations people increasingly came into contact with Chinese arrivals. Both groups largely lived on the margins of White Settler society and were subject to much disdain and discrimination.

The historical material in this book unfolds across two levels: documented accounts of people, places and events, and family stories that add a personal touch to the broader history. It also includes contemporary views by eight artists — seven Aboriginal Chinese and one Chinese-Australian — exploring how descendants identify themselves and what they think of their family history. 

This book launch includes presentations by Stephen Loo and Barbara Peek on their respective family histories, and Zhou Xiaoping, book editor and project lead of the Our Story exhibition at the National Museum of Australia.

The book will be formally launched by Alec Coles, CEO of the Western Australian Museum and Professor Jacqueline Lo, Director of the Indo-Pacific Research Centre.