An upcoming free exhibition of historic photographs at the University of Sydney’s Macleay Museum offers a fascinating look at life in the Pacific from the 1850s to the 1940s.
Points of Focus: Historic Photographs from the Pacific features images from the Macleay Museum’s historic photo collection with images taken by missionaries, anthropologists, tourists, and early government expeditions.
Some of the events covered by the exhibition include the British proclamation of a protectorate in Papua in 1884, colonial and civil war in Samoa in the late 19th century, and Douglas Mawson's first scientific expedition to Vanuatu in 1903. The personal side of colonial service is shown in the family photos of Sir Hubert Murray (Australian Lieutenant-Governor of Papua for over thirty years, up until 1940). Detailed and intimate glimpses of Solomon Islanders’ every day and ceremonial life are seen in the images captured by anthropologists working in the region in the early 20th century.
"We wanted to depict people, places and times that don't receive a lot of attention in history books but have an important historical and ongoing relationship with Australia," said exhibition curator Rebecca Conway who developed Points of Focus after researching Pacific collections in Britain, France and the Netherlands.
"Working with these photographs was like travelling back in time, seeing both dramatic moments of Pacific history, such as the 1937 volcanic eruption that swallowed Rabaul, and the closer, more detailed views of individuals, the daily lives of Pacific Islanders and the foreigners they met."
Points of Focus: Historic Photographs from the Pacific is at the The Macleay Museum, University of Sydney, from 1 March to September 2014.
Woman with baby in a bilum. 1874-1890, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Photo by Rev W G Lawes. Courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney.
Marigum, headman of Dap village, 1934. Wogeo Island, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. Photo by H I Hogbin. Courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney.
Sunset across Goodenough Bay, 1920-21, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Photo by F Hurley, (donated by M Ward). Courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney.