Waiting at the Gate - abandonment to Aboriginal Artist of the Year Nomination

Robyn Caughlan's Aboriginal Wedding Dress, displayed at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney

Aboriginal Art Directory | 18.07.12

Author: Robyn Caughlan with Jason Foster
News source: Magabala Books

At the age of five, after years of abuse, and just months after the death of her father, Robyn was sent on a ‘holiday’ and was never returned to her family. She waited at the gate for her mother to return but it soon dawned on her that her family was not coming to get her. This is Robyn’s story.

From humble and sometimes horrific beginnings Robyn became one of Australia’s leading fashion and textile designers and an accomplished artist. In Waiting at the Gate, Robyn transforms her life in front of the reader’s eyes and comes back from the brink of suicide to build a happy and successful life.

Robyn Caughlan is a Dharug and Darkinung woman from Western Sydney. She is a fashion and textile designer and painter and was nominated for Aboriginal artist of the year in 1990 and 1991. Her designs were showcased in New York and Milan and she helped choreograph her own fashion show during the 2000 Olympics. Her fashion work has included designs for the Miss World, Miss Universe and Miss Teen Universe pageants. Her Aboriginal Wedding Dress and Miss Universe dress are held in the Powerhouse Museum.

Co-written by Jason Foster, born in Sydney in 1976 and grew up in the Blue Mountains. He is a History/ English teacher in Western Sydney with a Masters degree in History and is currently studying for a Diploma in Languages in Spanish.

Waiting at the Gate is available now in bookshops and online from Magabala Books for $27.95

Magabala Books is a not-for-profit Indigenous publishing house based in Broome which aims to promote, preserve and publish Indigenous Australian culture

URL: www.magabala.com

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