Kurt Lewinski was a Dunera boy. Formerly a refugee of England 1938, originally from Berlin. Transported to Australia in 1940.

Certificate of Internment x 2; Deed poll; Certificate of Naturalization; Certificate of Discharge. Ludwig EICHBAUM was an refugee from England who was sent to Australia on HMT Dunera and interned in Hay NSW and then Tatura Victoria.5 documents in 4 plastic sleeves pertaining to Ludwig 00 (later known as Leslie Ernest EVERETT). certificate of internment, certificate of naturalization, certificate of discharge, deed poll, ludwig eichbaum, leslie ernest everett, hay internment camp, tatura internment camp, hmt dunera

From the bequest of the late K. Lewinski, a German Ort boy from Berlin, refugee in England 1938 - June 1940. Interned and transported to Australia 1940, interned in camp 2. Released in January 1942 to 8th employment co at Tocumwal.Wooden sculpture featuring a man wearing a peaked cap, pushing a wooden wheel barrow filled with round logs, fixed to a wooden rectangular base. 2 pieces.K. Lewinski 1998 Timber: man - kwila, barrow - blackwood, firewood - teak kurt lewinski, wood sculptures, ort boy, internment camp 2, 8th employment co

Depicts a member of the AMF 8th Employment Co. Made by former camp 2 Tatura internee after his release in January 1942. At the 8th employment company at Tocumwal. Kurt Lewinski was a Dunera boy. Formerly a refugee of England 1938, originally from Berlin. Transported to Australia in 1940.Wood carving or sculpture of a man stacking boxes at a railway station.K. Lewinski 1944 Huon Pine (stained)wood sculpture, internee hand craft, dunera boy, kurt lewinski

This serving meat plate/platter dates to the 1914 to 1930's period in time. This was a period when fine bone china and crockery was imported from England or Europe (mainly Germany). It was highly regarded not only as good crockery but also a linkage to "mother" England and showed a that the family was "well to do". This plate has important relevance to the socio- economical "atmosphere" of rural life (Kiewa Valley) in the early 20th Century. The quality of good English merchandise and the "British best" attitude of the Australian psyche of this period, especially in rural regions, was strongly entrenched into the population. However after World War II this psyche changed drastically as European refugees from war torn Europe "invaded" the mainly "British" based cultural mores. This was the beginning of cultural diversity and rolled out onto multi-culturalism of the latter 20th Century. This large bone china oval shaped serving plate has a green floral pattern around the the base extending up the sides, similar to the "Brussels" pattern. The top edge is delineated with a swirling pattern emphasised with gold leaf. On the rim and detailing 15mm before the edge are oyster or scollop like bubbles in three rows.manufacturers stamp (dating manufacture 1914-1925) and numbered "36" domestic kitchen crockery, english crockery, serving plates and platters

Vassilieff dynamited rock from his own property to build his house. Stonygrad is reminiscent of a grotto and in parts, of a sculpture. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p135 Stonygrad, the home built by Expressionist painter and sculptor Danila Vassilieff, is reminiscent of a grotto and in parts, of a sculpture. Vassilieff, who amongst others influenced painter Sydney Nolan and Albert Tucker, was a member of the artists group the Angry Penguins. He was also a highly regarded art teacher at the nearby Koornong Experimental School and taught at Eltham High School. Art critic Robert Hughes described Vassilieff’s painting as ‘lyrical without social commentary’, and said Vassilieff was ‘the most oddly neglected artist in recent Australian History’. Vassilieff, who was born in 1897 in Russia, had an unusually adventurous life before he settled in Warrandyte. The 12th of 18 children, he lived on a farm in the Don Basin. Vassilieff trained with the Imperial Military Academy at St Petersburg and fought in World War One as an officer in the White Russian Army against the communists. In 1920 he was captured, then escaped from prison, stole a horse and rode bareback 150 miles to the Black Sea, helped at first by Tartar freebooters. He then travelled to India, Shanghai and arrived in Queensland as a refugee in 1923 where he began painting. He and his wife Anisia bought a sugar farm near Ingram, and later he constructed railway lines at Mataranka, in the Northern Territory.4 In 1929 Vassilieff went to Brazil for formal art training from former fellow-officer Dmitri Ismailovich, but he soon left to travel up the Amazon River. He then worked as a sidewalk artist in the West Indies and travelled for two years in England, France and Spain. In 1937 he arrived in Melbourne where he lived until his death in 1958. His first major Australian series was the Carlton streetscapes and from 1951 he sculpted in local hard limestone. Vassilieff rejected all dogma and regarded religious subjects as suitable only for decorative arts. In 1944 he helped defeat a communist attempt to take over the Contemporary Art Society. For a short time, from around 1955, Vassilieff taught at various Victorian schools. The Angry Penguins painted mainly between 1937 and 1947, and included Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan and Joy Hester. The group formed as they felt isolated from European thought and art (including Surrealism) from which their work was derived. They were also angry at what they considered to be the complacency and insularity of their society. They maintained Australians at first were scarcely aware of the threats of the Wall Street Crash and Hitler and were little interested in the Spanish Civil War. The Angry Penguins also objected to the White Australia Policy. Hughes said although most of the Melbourne Expressionists in the 1940s were unskilled and their work crude in style, they helped jolt Australian painting from its pastoral complacency. Their style influenced nearly every painting produced by significant figurative artists in Melbourne in the 1950s such as Charles Blackman. From 1939 Vassilieff built Stonygrad, mainly with local stone. The house stands at the end of a private road surrounded by trees with the quiet occasionally broken by the sounds of bellbirds. To build his house Vassilieff dynamited rock and cut trees from his own property. The original section of the three-level house is of irregular-shaped pieces of solid stone, exposed inside like the exterior. Vassilieff later built sections with timber and brick. Inside is rustic and cave-like, and several rooms are linked by arched openings with no doors. One undulating wall was carved out of rock from which two sculptured heads protrude. Several ceilings are of rough-hewn logs and the built-in table and bookcase are rough, as is a timber ladder leading to a bedroom. Not for the elderly or unsteady! Yet the general impression in the muted light is beautiful, with artistic originality.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, danila vassilieff, hamilton road, north warrandyte, stonygrad

non-fictionCaught in a Snare' explores the plight of the refugee scholars fleeing Germany and the Incorporated Territories between 1933 and the beginning of World War II in 1939, and the War years in England.refugees - great britain - history, great britain - intellectual life, great britain - political refugees

The discovery of the first telescope in 1608 can be attributed to Hans Lippershey of the Netherlands when he discovers that holding two lenses up some distance apart bring objects closer. He applies for a patent on his invention and this becomes the first documented creation of a telescope. Then in 1668, Newton produces the first successful reflecting telescope using a two-inch diameter concave spherical mirror. This opened the door to magnifying objects millions of times far beyond what could ever be obtained with a lens. It wasn’t until 1729 that Chester Moor Hall develops an achromatic lens (two pieces of glass with different indices of light refraction combined produce a lens that can focus colours to almost an exact point resulting in much sharper images but still with some distortion around the edges of the image. Then in 1729 Scottish instrument maker James Short invents the first parabolic and elliptic, distortion-less mirror ideal for reflecting telescopes. We now come to John Dollond who improves upon the achromatic objective lens by placing a concave flint glass lens between two convex crown glass lenses. This had the effect of improving the image considerably. Makers Information: John Dollond (1707-1761) London England he was a maker of optical and astronomical instruments who developed an achromatic (non-colour distorting) refracting telescope and practical heliometer. A telescope that used a divided lens to measure the Sun’s diameter and the angles between celestial bodies. The son of a Huguenot refugees Dollond learned the family trade of silk weaving. He became proficient in optics and astronomy and in 1752 his eldest son, Peter joined his father in an optical business, in 1753 he introduced the heliometer. In the same year, he also took out a patent on his new lenses. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in May 1761 but died suddenly in November and his share in the patent passed to his son Peter. In subsequent squabbles between Peter and the many London opticians who challenged his patent, Peter’s consistent position was that, whatever precedents there may have been to his achromatic lenses, his father had independently reached his practical technique on the basis of his theoretical command of Newtonian optics. As a result of maintaining his fathers patent, Dollond s became the leading manufacturer of optical instruments. For a time in the eighteenth and nineteenth century the word 'Dollond' was almost a generic term for telescope rather like 'Hoover; is to vacuum cleaner. Genuine Dollond telescopes were considered to be amongst the best. Peter Dollond (1731-1820) was the business brain behind the company which he founded in Vine Street, Spitalfields in 1750 and in 1752 moved the business to the Strand London. The Dollonds seem to have made both types of telescopes (reflecting and refracting), possessing the technology to produce significant numbers of lenses free of chromatic aberration for refracting telescopes. A Dollond telescope sailed with Captain Cook in 1769 on his voyage to observe the Transit of Venus. Thomas Jefferson and Admiral Lord Nelson were also customers of the Dollonds. Dollond & Co merged with Aitchison & Co in 1927 to form Dollond & Aitchison, the well-known high street chain of opticians, now fully part of Boots Opticians. They no longer manufacture but are exclusively a retail operation.    John Dollond's experiments in optics and how different combinations of lenses refract light and colour gave a better understanding of the divergent properties of lenses. That went on to inform and pave the way for the improvement of our understanding of optics that are represented today. Dollond was referred to in his time as the "Father of practical optics" as a leader in his field he received many prestigious awards. The telescope in the collection is a good example of one of Dollonds early library telescopes and its connection with one of England's 18th-century pioneers in optical development is in itself a significant and an important item to have within the collection. Telescope: one tube ships Day and Night telescope, with a brass inner tube and a timber main tube covered in leather. Made in 1869 by Dolland, London."Dolland London" "Day or Night" "Royal National Life Boat Institution" "1869"flagstaff hill, shipwreck coast, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, telescope, dolland, night and day, royal national life boat instution

Betty Sale (1905-1976) won the Tasmanian State Championship in 1934, 1935 and 1936. She also worked as a car saleswoman in Hobart. In 1939, London reported: “Betty Sale, pretty Tasmanian brunette, will soon leave England for Finland, where she will drive an ambulance behind the Mannerheim Line. With twenty-three English society girls, she volunteered for the job because she wanted to do something for the brave Finns.” Betty volunteered for First Aid Nursing Yeomanry Service (F.A.N.Y.), conveying refugees and casualties to hospitals by ambulance in Finland’s harsh weather. Back in England, as a corporal, she worked during bombings in Plymouth, writing to her brother: “Bombs were dropping all around us, fires are raging, debris everywhere and huge holes around us. When we had got all the live ones, we went and collected dead bodies.” Betty was awarded an MBE and the Winter War Medal for Civilians from Finland Government 1939-40. MCK142 Published The Age 29 August 1935 Featured in "Newsworthy: Melbourne in photographs 1933-1936" exhibition at East Melbourne Library, October to December 2023. Exhibition caption by project volunteer, Fiona Collyer. Photographer notations on slide: "Vic. Women's Golf Ch'ship 1935 B98" Published: The Age 29 August 1935 p. 11 Published title: SIX STATE CHAMPIONS IN NATIONAL GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP. Published caption: Six State champions for the first time in the history of women’s golf are competing in the matches for the Australian title. — 1. Miss B. Sale (Tas.). 2. Miss J. Hood-Hammond (N.S.W.). 3. Miss J. Gardiner (Qld,) 4. Miss K. Rymill (S.A.). 5. Mrs. O. J. Negus (W.A.). 6. Mrs. S. Morpeth (Vic.) RESEARCHER'S NOTE: The Age listed Golfer 1 as Miss B. Sale and Golfer 4 as Miss K. Rymill. We verified that these should in fact be the other way around: 1 is Miss K. Rymill, 4 is Miss B. Sale. Description: Action shot of woman driving golf ball Research by project volunteer, Fiona Collyer: MISS BETTY SALE Mrs Margaret Elizabeth Scott Rigg (1905-1976) MBE Betty Sale grew up in Hobart and attended St Michael’s Collegiate School. She was a champion Tasmania golfer and won the State Championship in 1934, 1935, 1936. Betty competed in the Australian Women’s Golf Championship at Royal Melbourne against the British Women’s Team in 1935. Betty worked as a car saleswoman at Robert Nettleford Pty Ltd at 113 Macquarie Street, Hobart. They were the agent for Austin, Buick, Chevrolet and Vauxhall. In April 1939, Betty sailed on the RMS Orford to London where she worked in sales for Henley’s, an exclusive motor sales firm. In November 1939 she volunteered for the Woman’s Transport Arm of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry Service (F.A.N.Y.) and was part of the team delivering 10 ambulances to Finland, which had been invaded by the Soviet Union. Betty worked conveying refugees and military casualties to military hospitals, often over tracks with only sleigh marks to guide them. Despite contracting measles she continued to work tirelessly, often for 22-hour shifts. She was awarded the Finland Winter War medal 1939-1940 for civilians by Field-Marshall Mannerheim (later President of Finland). Betty was quoted in the Australian Women’s Weekly 17/1/1940: “I joined the ambulance corp for Finland because I was filled with admiration for the courage and determination of the Finns. I don’t think that there has ever been anything so dramatic in history as the manner in which Finland, a land of 4,000,000 people has resisted the aggression of the teeming millions of Russians.” After six months working in Finland, the FANYs found themselves held up unable to get aid from Britain to escape and they felt a burden on the Finns. Eventually money was sent privately from a neutral country and the 17 FANYs determined to get away. They set off from Helsinki with only the civilian clothes they were wearing and travelled by train and bus to a northern port where they boarded a cargo vessel. For a fortnight they did not change their clothes and slept under tarpaulins in the hatchway. The only choice of food was porridge or pea soup. After two weeks aboard the cargo vessel, a palatial liner approached the ship and in mid-ocean the FANYs were transhipped by rope ladders. The women enjoyed three course meals and other luxuries for three days before arriving back in England. Betty, now a corporal, worked for two years transporting civilian and military casualties during bombings in Plymouth. In a letter to her brother, Mr J Sale of Gerogery NSW, Betty wrote, “We have had a very lively time here as we have been blitzed for two nights. There is literally nothing of Plymouth left. We were out all the first night with the ambulance collecting casualties and have never seen such injuries. Bombs were dropping all around us, fires were raging, debris everywhere, and huge holes in the roads. When we had got all the live ones, we went and collected dead bodies. The people are marvellous.” “Next night, we had a worse blitz. We were not out so long but it was not a pleasant party. I didn’t know I was so brave but could not stand it too long. Mr Menzies was here for the second night’s blitz. We have adopted a homeless and hurt dog – a raid victim – and the poor fellow is completely exhausted.” In 1942, Betty worked in Algeria in charge of 100 specialists and technicians - the first servicewomen to arrive in North Africa. In 1945, she was awarded an MBE in recognition and on behalf of the work this unit was involved in. In 1945, Betty was promoted to Captain and posted to Australia to establish a Signal Station. In 1946, she married Lt-Col H. Henry O. Rigg of the Royal Artillery in Tasmania. The couple had first met in Algeria in 1943. The Australian press closely followed Betty’s wartime activities praising her courage, capability, driving and mechanical knowledge and of course Australian women’s hardiness. After the war, Betty lived in Sheffield, England with her husband, working as an office manager. She continued to play golf until her death aged 71 in 1976.Photographer notations on slide: "Vic. Women's Golf Ch'ship 1935 B98".golf, women golfers, royal melbourne golf club

Paperback book with a man standing in front of a multi line wired fence. Pink and grey sky with an aeroplane near the top. Black print at top. Title in white print.non-fictionuwe radok, hmt dunera

Book with green text on cover and spine and red image on coverfiction'Dora Elizabeth Burchill was born in Hawthorn, Victoria and trained as a triple certificate nurse in Melbourne and London. Proving that nursing is the best passport for travel she subsequently travelled widely and became registered as a nurse in seven countries of the world. Cherishing the ideals of Florence Nightingale in peace and war, Sister Burchill volunteered to serve in Ethiopia during the Italian-Abyssinian War in 1936, nursed refugee children during the Spanish Civil War in 1937 and served with the 2nd AIF in Palestine and Egypt in 1940. Following six years as a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service, she took another challenging path, becoming involved in radio broadcasting [Working for 3SR Radio Station, Shepparton p185], writing and lecturing for the Commonwealth Institute in England. Six years later she returned to nursing and started the first full-time infant welfare clinic in Darwin for the Northern Territory Department of Health and remained in this important post of increasing development in post-war Darwin for five years. Sister Burchill continued this work in Thursday Island and the Sepik District of New Guinea into the 1960s. Many published articles in magazines and newspapers and five published books testify to her skill and determination as a factual writer. ?Innamincka?, is her best-known book. Seeking further worthwhile challenges in the 1970s, Sister Burchill studied for the Higher School Certificate which resulted in her earning a place in the Faculty of Arts, Monash University. She graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1981. In 1986, she graduated as Bachelor of Letters at the University of Melbourne. Includes index. Bibliography: p. [249]-250. Medicine. Nursing. Burchill, Elizabeth, 1908-. Australia. Biographies (ANB/PRECIS SIN 0516392). Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-250) and index.' From Trovenursing in warfare, elizabeth burchill, world war two, wwii, ww2, china-ethiopian war, spanish civil war, australian army nursing service

Book with brown text on cover and spine and brown image on coverfiction'Dora Elizabeth Burchill was born in Hawthorn, Victoria and trained as a triple certificate nurse in Melbourne and London. Proving that nursing is the best passport for travel she subsequently travelled widely and became registered as a nurse in seven countries of the world. Cherishing the ideals of Florence Nightingale in peace and war, Sister Burchill volunteered to serve in Ethiopia during the Italian-Abyssinian War in 1936, nursed refugee children during the Spanish Civil War in 1937 and served with the 2nd AIF in Palestine and Egypt in 1940. Following six years as a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service, she took another challenging path, becoming involved in radio broadcasting [Working for 3SR Radio Station, Shepparton p185], writing and lecturing for the Commonwealth Institute in England. Six years later she returned to nursing and started the first full-time infant welfare clinic in Darwin for the Northern Territory Department of Health and remained in this important post of increasing development in post-war Darwin for five years. Sister Burchill continued this work in Thursday Island and the Sepik District of New Guinea into the 1960s. Many published articles in magazines and newspapers and five published books testify to her skill and determination as a factual writer. ?Innamincka?, is her best-known book. Seeking further worthwhile challenges in the 1970s, Sister Burchill studied for the Higher School Certificate which resulted in her earning a place in the Faculty of Arts, Monash University. She graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1981. In 1986, she graduated as Bachelor of Letters at the University of Melbourne. Includes index. Bibliography: p. [249]-250. Medicine. Nursing. Burchill, Elizabeth, 1908-. Australia. Biographies (ANB/PRECIS SIN 0516392). Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-250) and index.' From Trovenursing in warfare, elizabeth burchill, world war two, wwii, ww2, china-ethiopian war, spanish civil war, australian army nursing service

Sepia toned paperback book with title and author details printed in brown text along spine and cover. Front cover shows a sepia photo of an Army Nurse overlaying an image of soldiers, camels and a ship.non-fiction'Dora Elizabeth Burchill was born in Hawthorn, Victoria and trained as a triple certificate nurse in Melbourne and London. Proving that nursing is the best passport for travel she subsequently travelled widely and became registered as a nurse in seven countries of the world. Cherishing the ideals of Florence Nightingale in peace and war, Sister Burchill volunteered to serve in Ethiopia during the Italian-Abyssinian War in 1936, nursed refugee children during the Spanish Civil War in 1937 and served with the 2nd AIF in Palestine and Egypt in 1940. Following six years as a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service, she took another challenging path, becoming involved in radio broadcasting [Working for 3SR Radio Station, Shepparton p185], writing and lecturing for the Commonwealth Institute in England. Six years later she returned to nursing and started the first full-time infant welfare clinic in Darwin for the Northern Territory Department of Health and remained in this important post of increasing development in post-war Darwin for five years. Sister Burchill continued this work in Thursday Island and the Sepik District of New Guinea into the 1960s. Many published articles in magazines and newspapers and five published books testify to her skill and determination as a factual writer. ?Innamincka?, is her best-known book. Seeking further worthwhile challenges in the 1970s, Sister Burchill studied for the Higher School Certificate which resulted in her earning a place in the Faculty of Arts, Monash University. She graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1981. In 1986, she graduated as Bachelor of Letters at the University of Melbourne. Includes index. Bibliography: p. [249]-250. Medicine. Nursing. Burchill, Elizabeth, 1908-. Australia. Biographies (ANB/PRECIS SIN 0516392). Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-250) and index.' From Trovenursing in warfare, elizabeth burchill, world war two, wwii, ww2, china-ethiopian war, spanish civil war, australian army nursing service

Hanimex Corporation was an importer and distributor of cameras, lenses, and other photographic equipment in Australia and New Zealand. It was founded in 1947 by German refugee, Jack Hannes, who had fled Germany for Australia in 1939. Hanimex was very significant in the development of the photographic market in Australia. The Hanimex MPF 830 is a super 8 film camera which is part of the Hanimex Loadmatic series and recognized for its use in 1970's cinema. The donor, a member of the Emerald Museum Committee for several years, donated other items of used photographic equipment which suggests they were a keen photographer. The airways tag shows that the donor took the camera with him when he visited England.This camera owned and used by a local person was made by a company which is significant in Australian photographic history.Black camera case lined with black leather on outside and red felt on inside. Secured with clasp of silver metal. Black leather carry strap. A British Airways baggage tag is tied to the strap, and a completed airways address label is affixed to the front of the case. Camera is a cine (movie) camera - Hanimex Loadmatic MPF 830.On lower right front of case: 'HANIMEX' Inside case is the owner's name and address and telephone number on embossed tape. On side of camera: 'AUTOMATIC / MANUAL / OFF / AUS' and 'HANIMEX / METER / FEET'. On other side of camera: 'LOADMATIC / MPF / 830' On front of camera: HANIMEX'hanimex

Sara Lindsay is a Melbourne-based artist, curator and educator. She worked as a weaver at the Victorian Tapestry Workshop (now the Australian Tapestry Workshop) from its foundation in 1976 until 1990. Alongside her art practice, Lindsay has lectured at the Tasmanian School of Art, held the role of Curator of Textiles at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, then the position of Production Manager at the Australian Tapestry Workshop. Since 2013 she has mentored three Karen refugee women from Myanmar, assisting in their professional development and furthering their tapestry skills. In 2023 Lindsay began the Ararat New Settlement Weaving Program, teaching and mentoring culturally diverse settlers from refugee and migrant backgrounds in the Ararat region. The artwork exhibited here is part of body of work exploring Lindsay’s family’s historical ties to Sri Lanka. Her British grandfather managed a tea plantation in Ceylon’s hill country during the 1920s and 30s, where her mother was born before returning to England after his early death in 1937. After her first visit to Sri Lanka in 2005, Lindsay developed works that responded to this journey. She chose a quiet, contemplative approach to reflect on the complexity of colonial histories. Research into her family history led her to delve deeper into Sri Lanka’s complex history as a trading nation and to expand her materials to speak to this layered past. The use of cinnamon in this work connects to the story of 17th-century weavers from Southern India who were displaced from the Kingdom of Kandy and sent to the southwest coast to become cinnamon peelers under Portuguese and later Dutch rule. The finely woven ticking strips seen here reference the thick cotton fabric once used to cover mattresses and pillows aboard cargo ships transporting spices from Sri Lanka - a subtle reminder of the human stories woven into trade routes and colonial histories.

Sara Lindsay is a Melbourne-based artist, curator and educator. She worked as a weaver at the Victorian Tapestry Workshop (now the Australian Tapestry Workshop) from its foundation in 1976 until 1990. Alongside her art practice, Lindsay has lectured at the Tasmanian School of Art, held the role of Curator of Textiles at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, then the position of Production Manager at the Australian Tapestry Workshop. Since 2013 she has mentored three Karen refugee women from Myanmar, assisting in their professional development and furthering their tapestry skills. In 2023 Lindsay began the Ararat New Settlement Weaving Program, teaching and mentoring culturally diverse settlers from refugee and migrant backgrounds in the Ararat region. The artwork exhibited here is part of body of work exploring Lindsay’s family’s historical ties to Sri Lanka. Her British grandfather managed a tea plantation in Ceylon’s hill country during the 1920s and 30s, where her mother was born before returning to England after his early death in 1937. After her first visit to Sri Lanka in 2005, Lindsay developed works that responded to this journey. She chose a quiet, contemplative approach to reflect on the complexity of colonial histories. Research into her family history led her to delve deeper into Sri Lanka’s complex history as a trading nation and to expand her materials to speak to this layered past. The use of cinnamon in this work connects to the story of 17th-century weavers from Southern India who were displaced from the Kingdom of Kandy and sent to the southwest coast to become cinnamon peelers under Portuguese and later Dutch rule. The finely woven ticking strips seen here reference the thick cotton fabric once used to cover mattresses and pillows aboard cargo ships transporting spices from Sri Lanka - a subtle reminder of the human stories woven into trade routes and colonial histories.

Sara Lindsay is a Melbourne-based artist, curator and educator. She worked as a weaver at the Victorian Tapestry Workshop (now the Australian Tapestry Workshop) from its foundation in 1976 until 1990. Alongside her art practice, Lindsay has lectured at the Tasmanian School of Art, held the role of Curator of Textiles at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, then the position of Production Manager at the Australian Tapestry Workshop. Since 2013 she has mentored three Karen refugee women from Myanmar, assisting in their professional development and furthering their tapestry skills. In 2023 Lindsay began the Ararat New Settlement Weaving Program, teaching and mentoring culturally diverse settlers from refugee and migrant backgrounds in the Ararat region. The artwork exhibited here is part of body of work exploring Lindsay’s family’s historical ties to Sri Lanka. Her British grandfather managed a tea plantation in Ceylon’s hill country during the 1920s and 30s, where her mother was born before returning to England after his early death in 1937. After her first visit to Sri Lanka in 2005, Lindsay developed works that responded to this journey. She chose a quiet, contemplative approach to reflect on the complexity of colonial histories. Research into her family history led her to delve deeper into Sri Lanka’s complex history as a trading nation and to expand her materials to speak to this layered past. The use of cinnamon in this work connects to the story of 17th-century weavers from Southern India who were displaced from the Kingdom of Kandy and sent to the southwest coast to become cinnamon peelers under Portuguese and later Dutch rule. The finely woven ticking strips seen here reference the thick cotton fabric once used to cover mattresses and pillows aboard cargo ships transporting spices from Sri Lanka - a subtle reminder of the human stories woven into trade routes and colonial histories.