Have you ever wondered what your ancestors from different branches of the family tree might say to one another – how they might get along – if they were to meet and have a cup of tea together? In Not a tourist (2017), Carol Macgregor imagines how her Aboriginal great-grandmother, Annie, and her Scottish grandmother, […]
In the early twentieth century, an amateur Australian artist picked up a nail, knitting needle, or knife, heated it in the fireplace and burnt the designs of Eucalyptus leaves and nuts into these wooden napkin rings. At the time, creative Australians loved the art of pokerwork, also known as pyrography, and burned designs into any […]
Born and raised at Kangaroo Valley near Nowra, Elsie Campbell (1883-1962) was twenty-seven when she set her mind and hands to making this picture frame in 1910. She crafted it using a technique known as ornamental leather work, also considered a type of ‘fancy work’. Unlike her three older sisters who preferred to embroider floral […]
It might look like a corporate branded face mask but it is actually homemade. Fashioned from an Albury City Council work shirt the mask pictured here was sewn by local resident Catherine Phelan. Domestic arts and craft, such as this mask, is often dismissed as ‘women’s work’. The use of craft as a tool to […]
Museums & Galleries of NSW acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands that comprise the state now known as NSW.
We pay respect to them as First Nations people with a continuing connection to land, place, waters and community
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that this site contains stories, images, voices, and video of people who have died.
Some material may contain terms that reflect common usage of the period in which it was written or recorded but may not be considered appropriate today. Such terms do not reflect the views of Museums and Galleries of NSW and are provided only to reflect historical context.