'Miss Pink's Wildflowers' - University of Tasmania Library
An exhibition of watercolour and pencil sketches of arid lands flora from Central Australia by Olive Pink (1884-1975) from the University of Tasmania archives accompanied by botanical specimens from the Tasmanian Herbarium. This exhibition was mounted in the foyer window of the Morris Miller Library at the Sandy Bay campus of the University. It ran from May until August 2004.

exhibition window

Acknowledgements:

Many thanks to:

  • Sue Backhouse, Curator of Art and Jacqui Ward of TMAG for providing access to and reproductions of the Albert Namatjira paintings donated to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery by Olive Pink
  • Dr Marco Duretto of the Tasmanian Herbarium for his assistance with selection of plant specimens to complement Olive Pink’s drawings
  • The Tasmanian Herbarium for the loan of plant material
  • Janet Middleton for providing Olive Pink material from TMAG library
  • Tony Marshall and the staff of the Tasmaniana Library, State Library of Tasmania, for providing access to Olive Pink’s letters to Sir William Crowther and providing scans of the letter of 2/10/1959 and the Art Society of Tasmania Annual Exhibition catalogue of 1907 in which Olive Pink exhibited four paintings
  • Julie Marcus, biographer of Olive Pink for giving permission to use material from her works about Olive Pink - in particular from ‘The Indomitable Miss Pink’ Sydney, UNSW Press, 2001
  • Clarry Smith, Curator of the Olive Pink Botanic Garden in Alice Springs for the provision of brochures about the garden and permission to use reproductions of photographs
  • Sandra Holmes for editing assistance and loan of sand from Central Australia
  • Clair Andersen from Riawunna for advice and loan of 'Bean Tree' necklace
  • Exhibition curated and designed by Gillian Ward with assistance from Lois Anderson, Zoe McKay, Kate Walpole, Jules Witek, Julie Wills and Emelia Ward
  • Martin Luther for cooking madeira cake for the exhibition opening

Madeira cake and sherry
Madeira cake and sherry served at the exhibition
opening following the tradition of Olive Pink.


Tasmanian Herbarium

The Tasmanian Herbarium represents an integral and major component of the natural history collections of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. Situated within the Sandy Bay Campus of The University of Tasmania, the herbarium houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of Tasmanian plants (including flowering plants, gymnosperms and allies, ferns and allies, fungi, lichens and algae) in the world. In addition there are extensive and diverse collections from other Australian states and territories and from around the world.

Staff of the herbarium physically and scientifically curate the collections. They also conduct and publish research, provide an identifications service, maintain the census (an up to date list of accepted names for the flora) and produce floras and other identification aids.