Summary

Indonesia batik shirt, owned by Lindsay Motherwell and given to him by a friend in Indonesia. The brand is Dewata from Solo Indonesia. It was never worn, and is still folded with its swing tag attached. Lindsay imported cane such as rattan and bamboo from a variety of Asian countries and made friends around the world.

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

Button-down batik shirt with a small collar. The brand is Dewata from SOLO-INDONESIA. It is still in original condition, folded with the original tag attached to the front.

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.

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