Search begins for precious Australian children's artworks in the UK

PERTH,Australia,July 6,2022 --Households across the United Kingdom are urged to be on the lookout forhundreds of precious artworks created by Australian First Nations children whowere forcibly taken from their families in the 1940s.

A selection of the treasured collection created by Aboriginal children internedat the remote Western Australian settlement of Carrolup will be showcased atThe Portico Library in Manchester until September 26 and the University ofGlasgow Memorial Chapel from October 5 to November 11.

It is the first time the artworks have returned to the UK in 70 years – afterLondon Soroptimist Club Founding President Florence Rutter met the artists andarranged exhibitions across London,Manchester,Birmingham,Liverpool,Edinburgh and Glasgow during the 1950s. Proceeds from artwork sales were usedto purchase more drawing materials for the children at Carrolup.

The drawings set off on an incredible 65-year journey circumnavigating theworld,including a 40-year hiatus in the US,where the works lay undiscoveredin storage at Colgate University in New York.

John Curtin Gallery Director Chris Malcolm is calling on the broader UKcommunity to help find any other missing works created by the children ofCarrolup in the 1940s.

"We are encouraging people across the UK to help our global search for theseculturally significant drawings by checking their attics,cupboards andhouseholds for any similar artworks," Mr Malcolm said.

"The key clues that people need to be looking out for include the use of chalkon paper and many depict the Australian landscape and wildlife,includingkangaroos. We would urge everyone to see for themselves at the two exhibitionsin Manchester and Glasgow."

Since 2013,John Curtin Gallery at Australia's Curtin University – withIndigenous Elders – has been the custodian of The Herbert Mayer Collection ofCarrolup Children's Art.

Anyone who thinks they may have found one of the artworks can contact us here.

https://jcg.curtin.edu.au/carrolup-archive/exhibitions/uk-tour/

Presented by the John Curtin Gallery as part of the UK/Australia Season 2021-22and supported by the Department of Local Government,Sport and CulturalIndustries and BHP with guidance from Indigenous Elder Ezzard Flowers,'Tracingthe art of a Stolen Generation: the child artists of Carrolup' is curated byAustralian First Nations Art Curator Michelle Broun and Adjunct Curator HelenIdle.