nuratinga milaythina kani mana-mapali (Country holding our stories) • Janice Ross
In January 2025, we were privileged to partner on a truly outstanding project, Seeing Truth in Museums. The project, a collaborative creation of artist and historian Dr Jane Wildgoose and Tasmanian Aboriginal artist Janice Ross, supported by Artquest, was a multi-disciplinary exploration of how artists and Indigenous knowledge holders navigate prevailing power structures in museums and beyond to tell truth about colonial legacies in collections, and associated intergenerational trauma, and to advocate for processes of reconnection and reparation.
The project took the form of an exhibition displaying works from both Janice and Jane, an in-conversation with the artists, and a conference that invited artists, Indigenous knowledge holders and curators, from the UK and internationally, to critically examine the colonial legacies of collections.
Redacting the Library • Janice Ross, Jane Wildgoose & Ben Gaskell • Photograph by Mark C. O’Flaherty
Janice’s essay, These are Our Living Stories, responding to the history of Mathinna: an Aboriginal child taken from her mother but later abandoned by the lieutenant governor of Tasmania John Franklin and his wife Jane in the early nineteenth century, was published with an afterword by Jane in collaboration with Negative Press for this project.
We were privileged to work with Jane and Janice throughout the project, beginning with Jane’s research into our own collections. Through this collaborative process, we were provided the invaluable opportunity to explore how cultural spaces can engage critically with their own complicated histories – and to understand better how our collections and our spaces affect the lives and experiences of those around us.
Carmen D’Cruz presents Dr Jane Wilgoose with the Ethical Award 2026
The conversations that emerged as part of this project were urgent, meaningful, and a powerful call to action to creating positive change in the cultural sector. It is in recognition of this work that we were delighted to award Jane Wildgoose and Janice Ross the Ethical Award 2026.
The Ethical Award is an accolade that spotlights work of outstanding ethical and social impact through Conway Hall Ethical Society’s partnership programme.
Jane accepted the award in person at this year’s Ethical Gala on Tuesday 3 March, presented by Conway Hall Ethical Society’s Chair of Trustees, Carmen D’Cruz. Janice, being based in Tasmania, sent her acceptance of the award by video message.