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.
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