Households across the United Kingdom are urged to be on the lookout for 
hundreds of precious artworks created by Australian First Nations children who 
were forcibly taken from their families in the 1940s. 

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

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

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

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

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

"The key clues that people need to be looking out for include the use of chalk 
on paper and many depict the Australian landscape and wildlife, including 
kangaroos. We would urge everyone to see for themselves at the two exhibitions 
in Manchester and Glasgow." 

Since 2013, John Curtin Gallery at Australia's Curtin University – with 
Indigenous Elders – has been the custodian of The Herbert Mayer Collection of 
Carrolup 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 2021-22 
and supported by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural 
Industries and BHP with guidance from Indigenous Elder Ezzard Flowers, 'Tracing 
the art of a Stolen Generation: the child artists of Carrolup' is curated by 
Australian First Nations Art Curator Michelle Broun and Adjunct Curator Helen 
Idle.

SOURCE: Curtin University of Technology