Dunera: Stories of internment

A profoundly moving visual experience featuring 200 artworks, diaries and oral histories on show at the State Library of NSW. In 1940, refugees from Nazi persecution who had fled to Britain were suddenly classified as enemy aliens, transported to Australia on the ship Dunera, and held in camps in Hay, Orange and Tatura. In their attempts to recreate traces of their former lives, internees ran a remarkable range of activities inside the camps, from art classes to university-style lectures and theatrical performances. As a result, they produced an extraordinary array of personal art and artefacts, from beautiful portraits and landscapes to pop-up paper models and even an unofficial camp currency. The State Library has spent many years compiling collections that piece together this little-known chapter in Australian history and now holds one of the largest Dunera collections in the world. Drawn from this vast archive comes a new exhibition of almost 200 artworks along with diaries, sketchbooks and other items from inside the internment camps. Come face-to-face with the internees and follow their stories, from the harrowing journey to Australia on the infamous Dunera to the realities of camp life, and life beyond the barbed wire.