meet the team

“I developed an interest in the Chinese history of the Bathurst district, as Bathurst was the administrative and service centre of the Western goldfields. The area also became a centre for market gardening supplying vegetables by rail to the Sydney markets. From the mid 1800s, the Chinese played a key role in the development of Bathurst and this became the subject of my PhD thesis. I am passionate about documenting forgotten histories.”
— Juanita Kwok, heritage consultant

Juanita Kwok

HERITAGE CONSULTANT, BATHURST

A smiling woman with short gray hair, wearing a black ribbed top, earrings, and a necklace, against a gray background.

Juanita is a Heritage Consultant based in Artefact’s Bathurst office. Having moved to live in the Central West over 15 years ago, Juanita has a particular interest in rural and regional history and heritage.

She bring her skills as a professional historian and experience working on heritage assessments and interpretation plans to complement the multidisciplinary team at Artefact

Juanita’s artefact

A large, dark brown ceramic storage jar with a rounded body, narrow top, and small protruding handles on either side, sitting on a wooden floor against a white wall with baseboard.

“My 'artefact' is a large globular jar of the type brought to the goldfields by gold seekers from the Pearl River Delta area of Canton. Whole jars or fragments of jars are often found on goldfield sites. This jar was given to me by a friend, with the only information that it was found in a street in South Bathurst. I chose this artefact because it is a reminder of the importance of understanding historical context, and the importance of the work that the team at Artefact do in archaeology and heritage interpretation.”