Femme Fatale: the female criminal tour

This touring exhibition examined the stereotypes of female criminals portrayed in popular culture, myth, literature and history.

Australian authorities have grappled with how to control wayward women from the moment raucous female convicts stepped ashore. The brutal reality of notorious female criminals such as ‘the man woman murderer’ Eugenia Falleni, sly grogger Kate Leigh and poisoner Yvonne Fletcher is in stark contrast to the glamour of the noir seductress and pulp novel siren. The exhibition traversed criminological theory, popular culture and the true stories of some of our most notorious female criminals.

Tour schedule

National Archives of Australia, Canberra | 14 June - 12 September 2010
Western Australian Museum Kalgoorlie-Boulder| 24 September - 21 November 2010
Western Australian Museum Geraldton| 3 December 2010 - 23 January 2011
Western Australian Museum Perth| 4 February - 20 March 2011
National Wool Museum, Geelong | 4 April - 13 June 2011
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston | 25 June - 4 September 2011
Orange Regional Gallery | 19 September - 30 October 2011
Liverpool Regional Museum | 12 November 2011 - 25 March 2012
Museum of the Riverina, Wagga Wagga | 31 March - 10 June 2012