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<\/p>\nAn Indigenous artwork which was made more than 70 years ago has been re-discovered after decades in a trunk at a museum in regional Western Australia.<\/p>\n
It was drawn in 1947 by 12-year-old Claude Kelly, who was part of Australia’s Stolen Generation, at Carrolup Native Mission School near the town of Katanning, \u00a0south of Perth.<\/p>\n
The museum that the artwork was found in is about 200 kilometres away from the Carrolup mission.<\/p>\n
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The painting was found in a trunk at the Corrigin Historical Society. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
Corrigin Historical Society curator Steve Brown-Smith said the artwork was donated to them about 25 years ago.<\/p>\n
“The curator at the time of the donation died a few years ago so any knowledge that she may have had has gone with her,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We never displayed the picture, and it has sat, undisturbed, in an old trunk for most of the last 25 years or so.”<\/p>\n
Hundreds of pieces of artwork from Carrolup have ended up thousands of kilometres away from where they were created.<\/p>\n
English woman Florence Rutter visited Australia in 1949 and was given hundreds of Carrolup pieces to exhibit and sell in London.<\/p>\n
American Herbert Mayer held a private collection of 127 pieces which he donated to his school, Colgate University in New York, where they remained in storage until 2004 when they were found by chance.<\/p>\n
The collection was returned to country in 2013 and given to the John Curtin Gallery in Perth.<\/p>\n
Artwork through the lens of children<\/p>\n
Claude Kelly’s artwork is now being cared for at John Curtin Gallery.<\/p>\n
The gallery’s senior Carrolup adviser Patricia Ryder said the newly uncovered piece was important for a multitude of reasons, including for families of the artists.<\/p>\n
“This could be some tangible evidence of their family connections that they may not have any more info on,” she said.<\/p>\n
“The Carrolup artworks talk to a time in history that we are really removed from, and it’s important to look at the artworks through what those children would have experienced at the time, not from where we are now.”<\/p>\n
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The Herbert Mayer collection of Carrolup artwork is at the John Curtin Gallery. (Supplied: Craig Mengham)<\/p>\n
Carrolup collections officer Lisa Liebetrau said the artworks could be very fragile with paper conservators assisting to restore damaged pieces.<\/p>\n
“The works being made after the Second World War and also on a mission school where the government and the education department were not providing materials of good quality, so the works were made with whatever was available,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The new acquisitions that we get in, especially the Claude Kelly that we’re talking about, that one had a lot of insect damage, it had a lot debris and dust and things like that,” Ms Liebetrau said.<\/p>\n
Search continues<\/p>\n
The search for the artworks that were created at Carrolup is ongoing.<\/p>\n
“We only know 17 of the artists that have been attributed to their pieces, and with 127 artworks in the Herbert Mayer collection you can see why it’s important that we continue to push for the research and education aspect so we can try and fill those gaps,” Ms Ryder said.<\/p>\n
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Lisa Liebetrau\u00a0says the art in the Carrolup collection can be incredibly fragile. (Supplied: Brad Coleman)<\/p>\n