The York Courthouse Museum and Art Galleries acknowledges its properties are situated on Aboriginal land. York Courthouse Museum and Art Galleries recognises Aboriginal people remain the cultural and spiritual custodians of their land and continue to practise their values, languages, beliefs and knowledge.
York Courthouse Museum and Art Galleries recognises the complex history and seeks to work with Aboriginal people to ensure these practices are recognised and included in the conservation and interpretation of its properties and history. Aboriginal people are consulted and have ongoing involvement in projects and programs.
The York Courthouse Museum accepts everybody with open arms and smiling faces.
We invite our visitors to consider the tumultuous history between these walls. Please enter into the court with reverence and respect to many different groups of people amongst whom are the convicts who initially built the place under such miserable conditions with very basic rations to the extent they rebelled.
We invite you to consider the many elders of the Ballardong who occupied these cells as a transit station to travel to Rottenest island, only to erase Aboriginal existence. These premises were a dream killer to many, and many others lost their lives during the transit process.
We invite you to consider the stories of petty criminals who stole turkeys or lambs to quench the hunger of themselves or relatives.
We invite you to come with an open mind, thoughtfulness, meditation , reflection and hope for the future.
It is our pleasure, honour and goal to embrace and host art representing life, respect, and hope.
Life of human beings who have been oppressed along the ages yet survived through endurance and resilience. Respect of history and it’s events. By acknowledging occurrences we don’t condemn or incriminate our selves but reassuring us and others that we long for better future without history being rrepeated again.
Hope for a better more egalitarian world, with brotherhood and sisterhood in pinnacle of its conscious
All activities, Events and attendance should be conducted in the abovementioned Spirit
chains cannot endure, where the human spirit walks free
The mission of the York Courthouse Museum and Art Galleries is to be a reflection of the communities around it, in voice, in culture, and in art. The York Courthouse is to be a place for community to heal and grow. It will service to champion the voices of peoples often forgotten in the margins of society and often denied advancement and even existence. This mission is reliant completely on the open collaborative efforts of our community through conversation and art expression.
It is our pleasure, honour and goal to embrace and host art representing life, respect, and hope.
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enha
Acknowledgement of the people of Ballardong that first dwelled this land
We present this to acknowledge the history of the presence and land rights of indigenous communities. This does not stand alone as a token gesture but rather an ongoing journey to respectfully learn from and champion the advancement of indigenous communities.