Kangaroo Island emus by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur
Exquisite illustrations by French artists made during Nicolas Baudin’s nineteenth-century exploration of Australia will come to Tasmania for the first time as part of an agreement between France’s Museum of Natural History in Le Havre and six Australian museums.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the French and Australian museums, stunning original watercolours and drawings by expedition artists Charles-Alexandre Lesueur and Nicolas-Martin Petit will be showcased at both the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) in Hobart and the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG) in Launceston.
A delegation from France, led by the Mayor of Le Havre Mr Édouard Philippe, will attend a special function at TMAG today to sign the MOU with the Directors of the TMAG and the QVMAG.
The exhibition will open in Adelaide in July 2016, before being on display in Tasmania from early 2017.
In early 1802, the French explorers landed in Tasmania and spent time interacting with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and recording their language and culture, flora and fauna as well as collecting cultural objects and specimens.
This partnership will allow audiences across Tasmania to see depictions of early Tasmanian life which are of enormous significance to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people and the Tasmanian community in general.
Most of the anticipated 100 illustrations to be included in the planned touring exhibition have never been displayed in Australia before. The drawings are held permanently by the Museum of Natural History in Le Havre, Normandy.
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Director, Ms Janet Carding said the illustrations provide an opportunity to tell many of the stories associated with the interaction between the French explorers and the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
“Baudin’s expedition represents a significant part of Tasmania’s history and these illustrations provide unique insights into the lives of Tasmanian Aboriginal People pre-colonisation”.
“I am delighted TMAG is part of a national collaboration to bring these extraordinary works to Australia and indeed to be working with QVMAG to showcase this important material across Tasmania” said Ms Carding.
The Director of the Museum of Natural History in Le Havre, Cedric Cremiere said: “It is wonderful that after that first French encounter with Australia more than 200 years ago, we can share these discoveries and sense of wonder with Australian audiences.”
Illustrations featured in the exhibition will include evocative portraits of Tasmanian Aboriginal People; images of their baskets and watercraft; watercolours of marine invertebrates; highly accurate profiles of the coastline; and drawings of Tasmanian animals such as the now extinct King Island emu.
Vanessa Goodwin, Minister for the Arts
