Ezzard Flowers, who travelled to Colgate University in America with Athol Farmer and John Stanton, reminds us of the impact of the return to the South-West of some of the ‘lost’ collection of Carrolup children’s art on Noongar culture. It was, indeed, an emotional occasion.
Indeed, the event was all about culture, Noongar culture. ‘It is a true tory that needs to be told’, Ezzard said, ‘The Stolen Generation is the missing link to our culture, our identity…. Koorah Coolingah is about our true history for Noongar people, in our heartland.’
He saw this art, these ‘wandering spirits’, as having reconnected through Noongar people to the families and cultures of the region, through their depictions of landscape, of country.
The Official Opening of the Koorah Coolingah: Children Long Ago exhibition, for the 2006 Perth International Arts Festival was, he said, an important statement of ‘being’ Noongar, of holding country—an affirmation of Noongar people and their sense of ‘place’.