Summary
Circular felt patch with the logo of the Musicians Union of Australia. Lindsay Motherwell was a drummer in various jazz bands, and a member of the union from the 1940s until at least the 1970s.
Sylvia Boyes (a South African-born orphan) and Lindsay Motherwell (a Melbourne-born drummer) met in Cape Town, South Africa in 1967 through their theatre connections. They fell in love but due to apartheid laws were forced to leave South Africa to marry in London. They subsequently relocated permanently to Melbourne in 1970.
Physical Description
Circular black felt with Musicians Union logo on it in blue and yellow. Bronze beading between circles.
Significance
Statement of Historical Significance:
This collection provides a significant opportunity to represent political and personal freedom as a motivation for migrating to Australia within the international context of both apartheid in South Africa and the end of the White Australia policy in Australia. The personal narrative is well documented and the objects provide a material way to follow the lives of both Lindsay and Sylvia, both separately and where they coincide in South Africa and onwards together to Melbourne. While this is ultimately a love story, it plays out through the collection against the backdrop of apartheid South Africa, sixties London and an increasingly multicultural Australia.
More Information
-
Collecting Areas
-
Original Owner
-
Inscriptions
Bronze beads stitched on to shape letters "MUSICIANS UNION OF AUST."
-
Classification
-
Category
-
Discipline
-
Type of item
-
Object Dimensions
89 mm (Outside Diameter)
-
Keywords
South African Immigration, Travel, Musicians, Jazz Bands, Working Life, Apartheid, Racism, Immigration Policies