Her Name is Nanny Nellie

In 1925, the Australian Museum had three statues made of so-called ‘full blood’ Aboriginal people—a child, a man, and a woman—displayed as nameless specimens of a supposedly dying race. The woman was Nellie Walker, great-grandmother to Irene Walker and great-great-grandmother to director Daniel King. Now Irene retraces Nellie’s life, aiming to reunite the families with their ancestors’ statues and re-exhibit them with names, identity, and dignity. It’s not just symbolic—it’s a chance to reshape how we remember, and to give the nameless back their names.