Prior to the opening of the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen, three Australian cultural exhibitions will open at two venues in Shenzhen on Thursday, November 12, offering Chinese audiences a rare, multi-layered look at Australia's Indigenous heritage and its long ties with China.
A Taste of Aboriginal Australia: Manjaree
Jointly presented by Pingshan Exhibition Gallery and Mt Yengo Wines, billed as Australia's first Indigenous-owned wine brand, A Taste of Aboriginal Australia: Manjaree offers an immersive setting for cultural exchange.
Centered on the concept of Manjaree—a traditional gathering place in what is now Fremantle, Western Australia—the exhibition brings together Australian Indigenous art, storytelling traditions and the ancient, continuing culture of the Noongar people. Through photographs and other visual works by renowned Indigenous artist Wayne Quilliam, it reveals the depth and vitality of Indigenous culture.
The exhibition also features an immersive digital experience based on the cycle of the six Noongar seasons, allowing visitors to experience the seasonal rhythms of the Southern Hemisphere through shifting light and imagery.
Australian Indigenous culture is among the world's oldest, dating back to more than 60,000 years. Indigenous Australians have sustained their distinctive cultural systems through Dreamtime traditions, language, art and oral storytelling.
Our Story: Aboriginal-Chinese People in Australia
Curated by renowned Chinese-Australian artist Zhou Xiaoping, Our Story: Aboriginal-Chinese People in Australia explores the lasting but little-known personal ties between Aboriginal and Chinese people in Australia, which date back to the 1800s.
It has been shown at the National Museum of Australia and has received grant support from the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations for exhibitions in Guangzhou and Xiamen. It now travels to Shenzhen Library's North Branch.
Shared Connections: Cantonese Stories in Australia
Commissioned by the Australian Consulate-General in Guangzhou, in partnership with the Museum of Chinese Australian History, Shared Connections explores the story of Cantonese migration to Australia, highlighting the enduring contribution of Cantonese migrants and their descendants to Australia's successful multicultural society.
Many people may be surprised to learn that about 1.4 million Australians have Chinese ancestry. As early as the 1730s, people from southern China began trading with Indigenous Australians. In the 1850s, the gold rush drew 40,000 Chinese workers to Australia, with around 90 percent of them from Guangdong. Many Chinese migrants from Guangdong went on to establish market gardens, work in pearling, run laundries, make furniture and open restaurants and hotels. Through commerce and settlement, Chinese people gradually became part of mainstream Australian society, laying the foundations for the later success of multicultural Australia.
For audiences in Guangdong, this history of migration to Australia has particular resonance. It is a story of family connections and a generation of Chinese migrants who helped shape a multicultural society, and it is key to understanding people-to-people ties between Australia and China today.
All three exhibitions will open on Thursday, November 12.
Our Story: Aboriginal-Chinese People in Australia and Shared Connections: Cantonese Stories in Australia will be launched at Shenzhen Library's North Branch at 2:30 p.m. and will then be open to the public free of charge until December 31.
A Taste of Aboriginal Australia: Manjaree will open the same day at Pingshan Exhibition Gallery at 6:30 p.m. and run until March 14, 2027, with tickets priced at 68 yuan.
Reporter | Dong Han
