Presentation box for Duyfken: the Aboriginal Print Portfolio
Date2006
Object number00045069
NamePresentation box
MediumCard, cloth
DimensionsOverall: 790 x 593 x 30 mm
ClassificationsTools and equipment
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
DescriptionBlack cloth covered solander box, original presentation box for the Duyfken Aboriginal Print Portfolio, commissioned by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a limited edition print portfolio to commemorate 400 years of Dutch contact with Australia and to acknowledge the special role of Aboriginal peoples of Australia in these early contacts with the Dutch. Each portfolio of 10 prints is presented as a boxed set and was launched in Sydney on 28 October 2006 by Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands.HistoryThe Aboriginal Print Portfolio was a collaboration between the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Australia Print Workshop (APW) in Fitzroy, Melbourne. Between 4 and 8 July 2006, 10 of Australia's talented and emerging Indigenous artists were brought to Melbourne to take part in APW's printmaking workshop.
The theme of the portfolio is 'first encounters' and the title takes its name from the first Dutch ship - the Duyfken, commanded by Willem Janszoon - to land on Australia shores. The artists were chosen to represent the regions visited by the Dutch to produce a permanent record of the 400 years of Dutch contact with Australia. These regions include Melville island, Arnhem Land, Cape York, Western Australia and Tasmania. Techniques used include photo-lithograph, linocut and hard-ground etchings
The portfolio was sponsored by Forbo Flooring, Rabobank Australia, Rio Tinto Aluminium and Wesfarmers Arts and is limited to 50 numbered copies plus five artist's proofs, two APW proofs and two Presentation proofs.
