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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 43 | February 2000


An antipodean view

Chart Shewing the Track of the Waaksamhey'd Transport from Port Jackson ...

George S. Allen
Chart Shewing the Track of the Waaksamhey'd Transport from Port Jackson in New South Wales to Batavia.

London: J Stockdale, 1792
paper; 20.1 x 23.2 cm;
Rex Nan Kivell Collection; from the Map Collection

The National Library’s latest exhibition—The World Upside Down: Australia 1788–1830—will be open to the public from 4 March and officially launched by Tim Flannery on 15 March at the Library.

The documentary record of the white settlement of Australia is one of the most extensive of the origins of any nation. The National Library’s collection of early Australian records, which the exhibition The World Upside Down surveys, offers an extraordinary range of material from which it is possible to discover the realities of Australia’s foundation. The material encompasses maps of the fledgling settlements of Sydney, Norfolk Island and Hobart, letters, diaries and reports, drawings, watercolours and prints, editions of books produced both about and in the Colony and broadsides and pamphlets intended for a popular audience.

The time-frame of the exhibition has been limited to the period from the landing of the First Fleet in 1788 to 1830, when free settlers began to outnumber convicts in the Colony, and New South Wales entered a new phase of development. 1830 was also the year in which the infamous Black Line was undertaken against the Tasmanian Aborigines. Using the primary documents on which subsequent histories have been based, The World Upside Down presents the immediate responses rather than (and in the case of many prints, in contrast to) the later official versions; this provides a context for understanding how the images of the period were shaped by the competing interests and cutthroat political struggles of the time.

Taken together, the materials presented serve as a witness to our history, bringing to life the events and experiences of the past. They reveal the attempts to recreate British society in a world upside down and offer insights into the ways in which these early experiences continue to affect our society and sense of self.

This fascinating and important exhibition will be on display at the National Library Gallery until 25 June.

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Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: tford@nla.gov.au

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