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Date2006

Maker Alan Mansell Australian, born 1957

Label Text"The leaves represent Tasmania where there are more varieties of gum trees than anywhere else in Australia. Within each leaf is the gum tree itself, as in the veins of the eyelid. The circles represent harmony. The inner circle symbolises contact between the Dutch and Tasmanian Aboriginal people. As they did not meet physically, contact was through sight: the upper eye sees Dutch ships; the lower eye sees the Tasman Bridge (in Hobart) as a symbol of the bridge between the Dutch and Aboriginal people. The colour within the leaves is that of the earth. The blue in the eyes refers to Europeans and blue is symbolic of the upper classes in history as blue was a precious pigment."--Alan Mansell

Object number2007.81.3

Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann

Credit LineGift of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

DimensionsSheet: 29 15/16 x 22 1/16 in. (76 x 56 cm) Image: 23 5/8 x 17 11/16 in. (60 x 45 cm)

MediumHard-ground etching in three colors, printed from two copper plates