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NLA News - home September 2001 Volume XI Number 12
Belonging: a Century Celebrated
Holiday at Taronga: The Old Days [c.1917]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harold Cazneaux (1878–1953)
Holiday at Taronga: The Old Days [c.1917]
photograph; 27.2 x 36.9 cm
Pictorial Collection PIC LOC C23–10

Roslyn Russell describes the conceptual and organisational process behind the current exhibition at the National Library of Australia

To the Honorable A.A. Calwell [194-]

V. Linde
To the Honorable A.A. Calwell [194-]
Illuminated address from a group of European migrants
watercolour and ink drawing;
38.8 x 26.5 cm
Pictorial Collection R11121

 

'Where do I belong?’ This question is asked at the beginning of a new exhibition, at the National Library of Australia and the National Archives of Australia, to mark the Centenary of Federation. To answer this question, Belonging displays over 300 items from the collections of the National Library, the National Archives and the State Libraries of New South Wales and Victoria, to encourage visitors to explore the ways in which people have belonged in Australia throughout the twentieth century.

Belonging began with focus groups in Melbourne and Canberra in late 1998 and early 1999, and two position papers on the topic, one written jointly by historians Stephen Foster and Peter Cochrane, and one written by Peter Read. Peter Read’s 1996 book, Returning to Nothing: The Meaning of Lost Places, had already explored the feelings of those who had lost beloved places through natural disasters such as bushfire and cyclone, by demolition or flooding for dams, or by separation from a homeland. He was then working on another book, Belonging: Australians, Place and Aboriginal Ownership, which was published in August 2000.

The focus groups and position papers teased out a wide range of ways in which people have belonged—or not belonged—in twentieth-century Australia. In April 1999, these ideas were passed on to a curatorial team, consisting of Canberra-based consultancy Australian Heritage Projects and Melbourne-based curator Joanna Wills, to use in developing the Belonging exhibition. Griffiths and Young Design and Ross Feller Architect were commissioned as exhibition designers. A working party of one representative from each of the participating institutions liaised with the curatorial and design teams.

Goat derby in front of a hotel, Cunnamulla,

Unknown photographer
Goat derby in front of a hotel, Cunnamulla,
Queensland
1909
Pictorial Collection Neg.876/M

 

Peter Cochrane and Stephen Foster carried out scoping studies of the collections of the participating institutions. A picture of how objects from the collections could be used to illustrate the many facets of belonging in Australia began to emerge. Beginning with over 20 themes and nearly 600 selected items, the exhibition’s content was progressively refined. We had to make tough decisions about streamlining themes and final choice of material.

Once the themes that would structure the exhibition were agreed to, Joanna Wills conducted Belonging community consultation workshops across the country, asking participants to consider and discuss their reactions to the ideas presented to them. Their responses have provided rich material for the exhibition, bringing it to life ith the experiences and emotions of a wide range of Australians.

An Indigenous Advisory Committee,chaired by Peter Read, worked with the curatorial team to shape ‘We belong to the land’, the section of the exhibition devoted to the Indigenous view of twentieth-century belonging in Australia. While some of the stories are of alienation and suffering the effects of prejudice, others, particularly the story of the ‘Willows’ community at Glen Innes and John Maynard’s audio ‘Shared Memories’ of European and Indigenous depression-era camp dwellers in Newcastle, are testimonies of hope and reconciliation.

An exhibition such as Belonging cannot present a single viewpoint or speak with a single voice. We decided that the text should be derived largely from quotations from published sources—including the works of Australian writers—and from the community consultation process. There is no master narrative running through the exhibition. Curatorial commentary is limited to short paragraphs to give explanations or context to particular images or objects.

Just over 300 items tell the Belonging story, grouped under 11 thematic headings:  ‘Knowing the country’, ‘Special places’, ‘We belong to the land’, ‘Building the nation’, ‘Place in the world’, ‘Arrivals’, ‘Not welcome’, ‘Making communities’, ‘Dressed to belong’, ‘At work’, and ‘Home’.

Bar, Betoota Races, Queensland, 1961

David Moore (b.1927)
Bar, Betoota Races, Queensland, 1961
gelatin silver photograph on layout sheets;
38.27 cm or smaller
Pictorial Collection P2102/35

 

Canberra Raiders player David Furner and Hunter Mariners player Neil Piccinelli in a match at the Bruce Stadium in Canberra, ACT 1997

Dean McNicoll
Canberra Raiders player David Furner and Hunter Mariners player Neil Piccinelli in a match at the Bruce Stadium in Canberra, ACT 1997
colour photograph; 22.4 x 15 cm
Pictorial Collection P1823/33

 

ICI House, East Melbourne, Telephone switchboard, 1958

Wolfgang Sievers (b.1913)
ICI House, East Melbourne, Telephone switchboard, 1958
gelatin silver photograph; 21x 25 cm
Pictorial Collection P2023/18

 

No exhibition can encompass every viewpoint, or every situation relating to belonging in Australia. The topic of sport, for example, would constitute an exhibition in itself.  Some visitors may find little in the exhibition with which they can identify, or some might find that they may relate more strongly to the ‘not belonging’ elements. Many, we hope, will respond in a similar way to those who have already visited Belonging in Sydney and Melbourne, and find ‘memory echoes’ that help them to define their sense of belonging in Australia.

Once visitors pass through the introductory ‘gateway’, they can view each thematic area independently of the others as each conveys a self-contained message (or a number of related messages). This is a particularly significant feature of Belonging in Canberra, where the exhibition is split between the National Library and the National Archives of Australia.

The themes are organised around the terms ‘place’ and ‘people’. ‘Place’—seen in Canberra in the National Archives—includes ‘Knowing the country’, ‘Special places’, ‘We belong to the land’, ‘Building the nation’, ‘Place in the world’ and ‘Home’. ‘People’—on view at the National Library—begins with ‘Arrivals’, then moves from the ‘not belonging’ experience of ‘Not welcome’, to ‘Making communities’, ‘Dressed to belong’, and ‘At work’.

People are as important as place in creating a sense of belonging. The groups to which we belong or from which we are excluded often determine how we see ourselves in relation to the rest of society. At the National Library, visitors to Belonging will first confront ‘Arrivals’. This illustrates the experience of migrants arriving in Australia, trying to fit into a different environment and making a commitment to become a citizen. A colourful watercolour certificate from the National Library’s collection testifies to the gratitude felt by one group of Eastern European immigrants towards the Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, the architect of Australia’s post-World War II immigration scheme.

‘Not welcome’ outlines the stories of individuals and groups regarded as ‘not belonging’ in Australia, often for racial or political reasons. One of the most evocative objects from the National Library’s collections on display in this section is a wooden coathanger made by an inmate of Hay Internment Camp, Hans Lindau. On the handmade hanger he has inscribed the words ‘made out of material just at hand, there was a war on, you know’. A hand-drawn Liverpool Internment Camp magazine, also from the Library’s collection, evokes a German Christmas imagined by exiles amid the bush of Australia.

Many people gain a strong sense of belonging by being part of a community. Community can be expressed through formal or organised activities, such as the photograph of children participating in a ‘goat derby’ in Cunnamulla in the early years of the last century. Or it can be a group of blokes at the bar at the Betoota races, captured by David Moore in a photograph from the Library’s collection of the work of this major Australian photographer. ‘Making communities’ also includes special communities such as those created by people from a particular homeland, religious faith, or sexuality. Many people experience a special kind of belonging associated with playing on a sporting team, or being a team supporter. Canberra visitors will recognise the bright lime-green jersey of the Canberra Raiders in a dramatic photograph by Dean McNicoll taken during a match at Bruce Stadium in 1997.

Coathanger made in internment at Haye,

Hans Lindau
Coathanger made in internment at Haye,
New South Wales, inscribed 'made out of material just at hand' 1940–41
wire and timber coathanger; 44.7 cm
(approx. width)
Pictorial Collection A40002314

 

‘Dressed to belong’ shows how the way people dress can say much about where they feel they belong. The wearing of a uniform makes belonging to a particular organisation visible to all. The clothes worn by members of armies, schools, sporting teams, lodges, and the kinds of dress considered appropriate for particular occasions, for example the races, can mean that anyone not dressed that way will feel that they do not belong. Informal dress codes also operate among different groups in society. David Moore again captures the extreme informality of dress prevailing in the Australian outback, with a beautifully composed shot (on the cover of this issue) of two shirtless young men playing bar billiards in Lancelin, Western Australia.

‘At work’ examines the idea that where we work is integral to our sense of belonging—and that being unemployed can force people to not belong. Belonging to a union is a very specific type of belonging; a feeling of belonging in the workplace can inspire solidarity; work in the home can be isolating or fulfilling; or work in general can be alienating and harsh. This section contains a number of photographs of people working at different occupations throughout the century, including harvesting in the fields outside Melbourne in the 1930s, Aboriginal workers in a series of works from Peta Hill’s Shadows in the Dust exhibition, and ICI telephonists photographed by Wolfgang Sievers, all held in the National Library’s collection.

Unionism also features in a powerful photograph by Francis Reiss from the National Library’s collection, showing protesters at the 1998 Maritime Union of Australia dispute. Union badges and pamphlets from the collection demonstrate that ‘Unions are for women, too!’

Harvesting around Melbourne, 1930s

Elsie Carter (1905–1975)
Harvesting around Melbourne, 1930s
gelatin silver photograph; 16 x 21 cm
Pictorial Collection P675/11

Visitors, as they leave Belonging, are challenged to answer some more questions, including ‘What sort of a country do I want to belong to?’ Many visitors to the exhibition in Sydney and Melbourne have responded to this challenge, and have added their comment cards to the racks. We hope that Belonging inspires its Canberra visitors to do the same.

ROSLYN RUSSELL was curator of Belonging: A Century Celebrated, for Australian Heritage Projects and is now a partner in Marsden Russell Historians. The exhibition is at the National Library and the National Archives until 11 November

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