Favourite objects

Boxed Marionette - Hi-Lo, Lamont Puppets, circa 1954
Image: Heath Warwick
Source: Museum Victoria

Boxed Marionette Puppet

This puppet was one of a set of three received by Ann Hargreaves as a gift for Christmas in 1954. They came with a simple stand-up theatre which fitted in her bedroom doorway. She and a cousin used them to perform concerts. The marionette is one of several objects in the exhibition which play on stereotypes and can reflect the prejudices we may have learned and buried deep.

Find out more about this object on Collections Online.

Explore other popular culture objects and imagery that have reflected our attitudes, perpetuated stereotypes and gone beyond a joke.

Teapot & Lid - Heja Chong, Bizenware, 1995
Image: Heath Warwick
Source: Museum Victoria

Heja Chong's teapot

This teapot was made by Heja Chong, circa 1995. Heja is a Bizenware potter born in Japan of Korean parents who combines ancient techniques with contemporary forms to express herself and the influences of the Australian environment.

Bizenware represents the oldest surviving form of pottery, with a tradition extending over 1000 years in Japan. The emphasis of this style is in the process of firing, where unglazed pottery is fired in a wood fired kiln for many days at a high temperature.

Find out more about this object in Collections Online.

Explore this and other stories which explore the different ways people express themselves.

Black hoodie with front pocket, screen printed with words and face on front
Image: Jon Augier
Source: Museum Victoria

Kat Clarke’s painted hoodie

Kat Clarke is a young Wotjobaluk woman from western Victoria. To explore her Aboriginal heritage, Kat designed this distinctive hoodie.

It is an expression of the different groups she belongs to — friends, peers and Wotjobaluk. She printed her hoodie with the western Victorian Wergaia language words wek (lives), wurrpa (loves) and murrun (laughs) to express her pride and pleasure in who she is.

Find out more and listen to Kat talk about being a young, Aboriginal, hoodie-wearing woman.

Black and white printed pamphlet of four pages
Source: Museum Victoria

Arthur A. Calwell's pamphlet

This pamphlet is a 1949 reprint of the article 'I Stand By White Australia' by Arthur A. Calwell, Minister for Immigration, published by the Melbourne Argus on October 24, 1949. He had the article reprinted in pamphlet form for circulation among people who did not read the newspaper in which it originally appeared.

It is Calwell's response to the public debate regarding the post-war deportation of non-European refugees granted temporary residency during World War II. While most left Australia after the war, about 800 wanted to remain as permanent residents. In October 1948 Calwell introduced the Aliens Deportation Bill and in 1949, the War-time Refugees Removal Bill. During this period there were also a number of court cases and personal stories of deportations being debated in the media. These debates in the public domain were the impetus for Calwell's response.

But has Australia really escaped its racist past? 

Find out more about this object in Collections Online.

Explore key events in our history and share how they made you feel.

Packet of Nigger Boy Steel Wool Soap Pads, 1950s
Image: Heath Warwick
Source: Museum Victoria

Packet of Nigger Boy Steel Wool Soap Pads, 1950s

This packet of Nigger Boy Steel Wool Soap Pads is one of several objects in the exhibition which explore how advertisements and brands have used stereotypes to sell products. The use of racial stereotypes in advertising was once common, even acceptable. This packet demonstrates how the association of dark-skinned people and cleaning products drew subtle connections between people and a particular kind of work.

Find out more about this object in Collections Online.

Explore other popular culture objects and imagery that have reflected our attitudes, perpetuated stereotypes and gone beyond a joke.

Steel pan - Ellie Mannette, 44 Gallon Tenor, Trinidad, circa 1970s.
Image: David Paul
Source: Museum Victoria

Caribbean Steel Pan

This instrument, made by a Trinidadian pan maker (in the Ellie Mannette F# style), was brought to Australia in 1974 by the touring Amral’s Trinidad Cavaliers Steel Orchestra, who left their instruments behind as tokens of appreciation to the local Caribbean community. It is a soprano pan, commonly referred to as a tenor pan. It is played by being struck inside the pan with a pair of rubber-tipped sticks.

Steel bands have extensive repertoires and many also adapt and perform other types of music, especially Latin, jazz, film and pop music. This pan was donated by Denis Gonzalez, teacher, performer and founder of the New South Wales  Schools Steel Band Association. It is the sister pan of the one Brian Thomas of CaribVic played in the 1970s and 80s. Brian Thomas migrated from Trinidad to Melbourne in the 1960s. He soon found a way to connect with his own community here by joining the Caribbean Steel Rhythm Band.

Find out more about this object in Collections Online.

Explore this and other stories about belonging and community.

Qur’an - Silvi Xhami , Albanian, circa 1700-1750.
Image: David Paul
Source: Museum Victoria

250 year old Qur’an

This Qur’an (an Islamic prayer book) was donated to the Museum by the Shepparton Muslim Society in 2009. It is over 250 years old and beautifully hand inscribed and illuminated. It was discovered hidden under the floorboards of a mosque in Ohrid, in what is now the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It barely survived and bears all the scars of fire and water damage.

The Qur’an was brought to Australia in the 1960s in order to save it from certain destruction during the communist regime in Albania and it was passed from father to son for safe keeping. Erik Lloga presented the Qur’an to the Shepparton Muslim Society in the 1990s which then presented to the Museum.

Find out more about this object on Collections Online.

Explore other stories about belonging and community in People like Me.