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 history

Museum of the Riverina, Wagga Wagga, NSW
31 March - 10 June 2012

Liverpool Regional Museum, NSW
12 November 2011 - 25 March 2012

Orange Regional Gallery, NSW
19 September - 30 October 2011

Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, TAS
25 June - 4 September 2011

National Wool Museum, Geelong, VIC
4 April - 13 June 2011

Western Australian Museum Perth, WA
4 February - 20 March 2011

Western Australian Museum Geraldton, WA
3 December 2010 - 23 January 2011

Western Australian Museum Kalgoorlie-Boulder, NSW
24 September - 21 November 2010

National Archives of Australia, Canberra
14 June - 12 September 2010