A Charles Sturt University (CSU) student's research provides the historical context for a contemporary art exhibition which opens at Bathurst Regional Art Gallery on Friday 27 November.Ms Juanita Kwok (pictured), a PhD student in the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst, is researching the history of the Chinese in the Bathurst region. She was invited to contribute to the exhibition which commemorates the NSW Central West region's early Chinese migrant history."My research explores and celebrates the long history of Chinese settlement in and around Bathurst," Ms Kwok said. "I was delighted and honoured to be asked to write the 1 500-word essay for the exhibition catalogue to provide the historical context for the work of the four contemporary artists whose work will be displayed."The exhibition, From Old Ground: Jess Bradford, Jason Phu, Ren Hang, and Louise Zhang, is curated by Ms Joanna Bayndrian, and gives space to the little-known histories of Chinese communities in regional NSW. It coincides with the 2015 bicentenary celebrations of the colonial settlement of Bathurst, and is a Bathurst Regional Art Gallery Bicentennial Project."The artists have produced specially commissioned work spanning ink painting, installation, video, and photography," Ms Kwok said. "Each of the artists was invited to respond to traces of Chinese migration in and around Bathurst in the mid- to late-19th century, and all have engaged with the fragmented narratives and silent monuments of this important chapter in Bathurst's social, cultural and economic history."