Return to Sender Exhibition Review by Dominika Monicka

The ‘Return to Sender’ Exhibition is an exhibition currently being shown at the University of Queensland Art Museum. According to Dr. Campbell Gray, the director of the UQ Art Museum, the university museum differs from other Art Museums because it offers opportunities for young emerging artists and does not have any hidden agendas unlike the mainstream art galleries in Brisbane. Thus, the university museum focuses their exhibitions targeting not only the young student population, but also has the ability to engage ambassadors and donors. The current exhibition ‘Return to Sender’ does this by educating the student population and challenging their views as well as involving the older population by triggering recent local histories.

Although the artworks were highly historical and political due to the curator’s verbal presentation and monotone voice this was neither evident nor stimulating in the tour of the space. UQ’s associate director presented the tour with the assumption that all of the audience was familiar with Queensland’s historical background. Unfortunately this was not the case due to Queensland College of Art’s international student population. This exhibition began to decline in interest rapidly due to topics that weren’t clearly explained or familiar to everyone present. For example Fiona MacDonald’s work from Rockhampton was described by the curator to be based on the history of members of the indigenous people and immigrants. This had no significance to an audience who was not familiar with the violent histories. Later throughout the tour a student had briefly explained the brutalities the indigenous people had faced, which consequently sparked more interest.

Overall, the experience of visiting a different University Art Museum had its own excitement factor for art students who have only been exposed to the local Art Museums and Exhibitions. What would have improved the experience of the exhibition would have been a more excited approach to educating the audience about the artists’ stories and the historical events behind the artworks. Also engaging the students by quizzing them about what they know of specific events to gage what the audience already knows.