The City of Albany is proud to support a new exhibition at Albany’s Historic Whaling Station through the Albany 2026 program, bringing into focus the often-overlooked stories of women connected to Australia’s whaling history.
Women in Whaling is a compelling artist-in-residence project and exhibition by contemporary artist Jo Wassell, on display from April 2 to May 31, 2026.
Drawings and stories are presented as a collective testament to intergenerational strength, offering a thoughtful re-examination of Australia’s whaling history by highlighting the lives of the women who sustained whaling communities from the margins.
Historically, narratives of the whaling industry have centred on male labour, industrial achievement and life at sea. Women in Whaling broadens this perspective, foregrounding the experiences of wives and daughters whose emotional, domestic and community labour was essential, yet rarely recorded.
Developed during a three-month residency at Albany’s Historic Whaling Station, the project unfolded through intimate sittings, photography, drawing and archival research.
Wassell’s finely rendered portraits are not illustrations of history, but acts of presence. Each face emerges slowly, carrying the quiet authority of lived experience, where endurance, care and resilience are etched as deeply as any official record.
Working in close collaboration with local archives, the artist interlaces personal memory with historical material, allowing private lives to surface within a broader maritime narrative long dominated by male labour and myth.
Albany 2026 Coordinator Adam Gregory said Albany 2026 provides an opportunity to shine a light on stories and perspectives that have not always been heard.
“Albany is a place of stories, and this year offers a chance to uncover more of them, including those that have remained in the background for generations,” he said.
“Women in Whaling is both an act of recovery, making visible those whose lives sustained an industry, yet were rarely invited into its telling.”
The exhibition will be on display in Albany’s Historic Whaling Station gallery from 9am to 5pm daily between April 2 and May 31, 2026.
FIND OUT MORE
