Summary

Note: This object includes a depiction of First Peoples and may provoke responses of trauma or offense for some people.

Sculpture 'Attacking the Invaders', created by Mr. Leon Wolowski circa 1984. Leon arrived in Australia from Poland in 1949. When he retired in 1975 he took up sculpting. His works fall into two main categories, both of which depict ways of life which have long since disappeared. One of these is a collection of sculptures depicting the life of Jews in a Shtetl in Poland. The other group is 'The Australian Pioneers'. This topic was chosen because it too represents a way of life that no longer exists.

This sculpture forms part of Leon's Australian Pioneers collection, which illustrates the shared experiences of 'The Australian Pioneers' of the nineteenth century. The collection includes images of men working on the goldfields, men living and working in the bush, a convict and interaction between Aborigines and whites. Many of the sculptures depict life in the bush illustrating the theme of rural Victoria. Others show images of the working lives of men and women on the gold fields.

Physical Description

Clay sculpture five men on a rectangular base. Three men are seated in a boat, they all wear long pants, heavy boots and long sleeved shirts. Two of the men are wearing hats and each man holds a stick or oar. In the water on one side of the boat are two men who's heads and shoulders can be seen, they are most likely intended to depict indigenous Australians. One of the men in the water is clinging to one of the oars.

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