Image credit: Galup featuring Ian Wilkes. Photography by Daniel James Grant courtesy of Same Drum (commissioned by IAS)
Galup VR Experience
PAST EXHIBITION – TOURED WITH ART ON THE MOVE 2024-25
This is a past exhibition. For bookings beyond July 2025, please contact Same Drum.
Galup VR Experience is a cinematic virtual reality work exploring the transformative impact of truth-telling.
In the heart of suburban Perth there’s a lake with a buried history. Whadjuk Noongar Elder Doolann-Leisha Eatts spent her life sharing the truth of what really happened there.
Lake Monger was a traditional Noongar camping and meeting place known as Galup (Kaarlup) – a place of fires. Today, thousands of people visit the lake and its iconic black swans without knowing the events that happened there or understanding the significance of this important site.
Galup VR Experience is an invitation to learn more about Australia’s collective past as you sit with Doolann by her fire and hear about one of the first colonial massacres of Noongar people.
Noongar performer Ian Wilkes and his son Calven join Doolann to immerse you in this powerful retelling of history. As the rush-hour traffic passes by and the centuries slip away, they shed light on the tragic events that occurred in and around Galup in 1830, guiding audiences towards an immersive understanding of Noongar culture and the impacts of settler colonialism.
This profound and intimate truth-telling experience brings people together for connection and healing. Created by Ian Wilkes and Poppy van Oorde-Grainger with an oral history from Elder Doolann-Leisha Eatts, and guided by a team of supportive Noongar Elders, Galup will resonate with you long after you leave.
“I have lived my whole life dreaming that this story would be told. It was my greatest desire, right from when I was 10 years old.” – Doolann-Leisha Eatts
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander audience members are advised that this production includes names, images and voices of people who have passed away. Names, images and voices are used with permission.
Click the titles below to find out more:
DETAILS FOR VENUES
| ARTISTS | By Ian Wilkes & Poppy van Oorde-Grainger with an oral history from Doolann-Leisha Eatts. Produced by Same Drum and guided by a team of supportive Noongar Elders. |
| MEDIA | Virtual reality experience. 9 mins duration. 15 x Meta Quest 2 128 GB VR headsets, 15 x Sennheiser audio headphones, 1 x Samsung tablet to synchronise playback |
| INSTALLATION | Space variable, min requirement 1.5m spacing between chairs, up to 17 chairs and 4 tables. Borrower must provide: chairs (swivel chairs preferable). Requires quiet room where entry and exit can be controlled and electricity power points. |
| MARKETING | Marketing Kit (includes e-invitation template, artwork for hard copy invitation, media release, promotional images, logos and acknowledgements) |
| INTERPRETATION MATERIALS | Program (available for free) Didactic panels |
| TOUR DURATION | Available from January 2024 – July 2025. |
| COST | Please email exhibitions@artonthemove.art for pricing information. |
WATCH
TOUR ITINERARY
2025
May 31 & June 1
Bunbury Regional Art Gallery
2024
May 6 – 8
Waringarri Aboriginal Arts
October 12
Narrogin Agriculture Show
October 13
Arts Narrogin
October 14
Narrogin Senior High School
October 15
Keedac Community Hub, Narrogin
The production of Galup VR Experience was supported by Creative Australia and the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and project partners Town of Cambridge, City of Vincent, Viewport XR, Community Arts Network, Museum of Freedom and Tolerance and Sandbox.
Galup VR Experience tours regional WA in 2024-25 with ART ON THE MOVE and Same Drum, made possible through the Regional Exhibition Touring Boost with funding managed by the WA Government.
