Zhou Xiaoping is a Melbourne-based artist and curator, born and educated in China. Since 1988 he has actively engaged with Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land and the Kimberley. For this presentation he will discuss his recent curatorial project Our Story: Aboriginal Chinese in Australia, at the National Museum of Australia, Canberra.

Zhou Xiaoping has been instrumental in several key Australian Aboriginal history research and exhibition projects. His collaboration with the late Jimmy Pike resulted in the first exhibition of Aboriginal artwork in China in 1996. He was the key person in the 2009 Trepang: China and the Story of Macassan-Aboriginal Trade project. He is the research project lead, curator and contributing artist on Our Story: Aboriginal Chinese in Australia.

 

About the exhibition

Our Story: Aboriginal Chinese People in Australia brings to life a previously overlooked but important part of Australian history and the experiences of two communities living on the margins of settler society.

​

The exhibition is the culmination of a three-year research project led by artist and curator Zhou Xiaoping and features contemporary artworks, personal accounts and oral histories by Aboriginal–Chinese people, alongside historical photographs and archival documents.

It showcases the work of contemporary artists of Aboriginal and Chinese descent Vernon Ah Kee, Gordon Hookey, Lloyd Gawura Hornsby, Jenna Lee, Damien Shen, Christian Thompson, Jason Wing along with Zhou Xiaoping who explore what it means to be Australian by reflecting on their ancestral, familial and cultural connections.

​

Our Story: Aboriginal Chinese People in Australia is on at the National Museum of Australia until 27 January 2026. The exhibition will tour China in 2026.

​

The Our Story exhibition was developed by Zhou Xiaoping with the support of the National Museum of Australia and the Museum of Chinese Australian History in Melbourne, and sponsored by the National Foundation for Australia-China relations and Fortescue Ltd. The Gordon Darling Foundation is the publication sponsor.

 

 

Book Launch

Organized and delivered by Asialink Arts and Culture at the University of Melbourne Professor Marcia Langton will be joining us a keynote speaker to the book launch.

Date & Time: 15 May 2025 4-5pm

Location: Yasuko Hiraoka Myer room, Sidney Myer Asia centre.

761 Swanston St. Parkville, in Melbourne.