We use cookies to improve your experience on our site and to show you personalised advertising. To find out more, read our privacy policy and cookie policy

Skip to Content
University of Wollongong Australia. Logo. University of Wollongong Australia. Logo. University of Wollongong Australia. Logo.
  • Search
  • Give
  • Library
  • Current Students
  • Staff
  • UOW Global
    • Our global presence
    • UOW in Dubai
    • UOW in Hong Kong
    • UOW in Malaysia
  • Menu
  • Study at UOW

    • Courses
    • Apply
    • Scholarships & grants
    • Accommodation
    • High-school students
    • Non-school leavers
    • Postgraduate students
    • International students
    • Moving to Wollongong
    • Study abroad & exchange
    • Global sport programs
    • Campuses
    Study at UOW
  • Engage

    • Future student
    • Alumni
    • Visit UOW
    • Woolyungah Indigenous Centre
    • Volunteer
    • The Stand Magazine
    • Community Members
    • Grants and funding
    • Give to UOW
    • Visit the Library
    • Key contacts
    • Educators & school teachers
    Engage with us
  • About UOW

    • Welcome
    • Our people
    • Services
    • Contacts
    • What's on
    • Global presence
    • Media Centre
    • Faculties & schools
    • Our vision & strategy
    • Our Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Strategy
    • Our reputation & experience
    • Locations, campuses & partners
    See more about UOW
  • Research

    • Our research
    • Researcher support
    • Research impact
    • Partnership & collaboration
    • Graduate Research School
    • Commercial research
    • Global Challenges
    • Media, news & events
    • Find an expert
    • Our people
    See more about research
  • Industry

    • Generator Lab
    • Advantage SME
    • Success stories
    • Industry research engagement
    • Equipment & Labs
    • Funding opportunities
    • Intellectual property
    • Collaboration for business
    • Collaboration for researchers
    See more about Industry
  • Alumni

    • Benefits
    • Outlook Magazine
    • Events & webinars
    • Volunteer
    • Awards
    • Honorary alumni
    • Testamurs & transcripts
    • Update your details
    • Your career journey
    • Contact us & FAQ
    See more about alumni
  • Quick links

    • Contact directory
    • Staff Intranet
    • Campus maps
    • Transport & parking
    • Key dates
    • Events
    • Password management
    • Jobs
    • Accommodation
    • Policy directory
  • Library
You are here More Pages
  • Home
  • About UOW
  • Media Centre
  • 2022
  • The stories of Indian and Chinese nursemaids brought to life in new exhibition

Media Quick Links

  • Contact UOW Media
  • Visiting campus
  • Image library
  • UOW key facts
  • Find an expert
  • News Corp subscription
  • Sign up for the latest news from UOW Media

September 19, 2022


  • Story By
  • Kate Mayhew
  • Photo By
  • Claire Lowrie
Share
Type
Media Release
Category
Arts and Culture
Tags
HistoryArts & HumanitiesResearch
Related Posts
Artist’s new exhibition inspired by The PlagueUOW Professor Justin Yerbury AM awarded 2022 Eureka Prize for Scientific Research

UOW in the News

The stories of Indian and Chinese nursemaids brought to life in new exhibition

New online exhibition at the cutting edge of digital histories


The stories, memories and histories of Indian, Chinese and other Asian nursemaids who travelled across the British Empire are the focus of a new online exhibition.

A team of five, including two University of Wollongong (UOW) historians, helped develop Ayahs & Amahs: Transcolonial Journeys to explore the lives and experiences of the world’s earliest global domestic workers in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Ayahs and amahs work of caring for children was considered vital to colonial and imperial projects and they helped shape the interconnected world we live in today.

Chief Investigator, Associate Professor Claire Lowrie, from the School of Humanities and Social Inquiry said the exhibition is at the cutting edge of digital histories.

“The exhibition not only explores the lives of Chinese and Indian women that travelled across the British Empire as carers to children, it also charts how objects related to the women, such as photos, postcards, dolls and paintings, also travelled across the world,” Associate Professor Lowrie said.

“It’s a very innovative exhibition that allows visitors to engage with the objects in different ways, for example via StoryMaps. These are digital maps that visitors can click on to follow the travels of women, such as Wong Chun Sung, and artefacts, such as ayah and amahs dolls.” 

The online exhibition is part of a broader Australian Research Council Discovery Project shared by the University of Wollongong and the University of Newcastle. Ayahs and Amahs: Transcolonial Servants in Australia and Britain 1780-1945, brings together prominent historians from Australia and the US to research the transcolonial origins of global migrant domestic work. 

Website developer and exhibition curator Dr Lauren Samuelsson is a UOW graduate and Honorary Fellow. She has a passion for making history accessible and for telling stories through digital technologies.

“Online exhibitions have been growing in popularity over the last few decades and the COVID-19 pandemic has established the online exhibition as an alternative to physical exhibitions,” Dr Samuelsson said.

“Online exhibitions can present objects and their associated narratives in endlessly creative ways which allow the audience to interact with and engage with our history in the digital space.”

But creating an online exhibition on this scale is not without its challenges.

“Not only does the exhibition need to be interesting and interactive, it needs to provide enough direction for visitors so that the experience is engaging and follows a narrative,” Dr Samuelsson said. 

“There are also various technical considerations including making the exhibition available on various devices, as well as challenges in obtaining permissions to publish the images, and financial costs in obtaining/reproducing the images.”

Despite the challenges involved, Dr Lowrie said the finished product enables the stories of travelling ayahs and amahs to be told globally.

“Our purpose in creating an online exhibition was to ensure that stories of the travelling ayahs and amahs can be shared across the world, reaching the places that the ayahs and amahs came from and the destinations to which they travelled,” Associate Professor Lowrie said.

“The contested history of imperialism and colonialism continues to evoke strong emotions in public discourse.

“In seeking to demythologise and historicise these colonised women workers, the exhibition and the broader project is intended to inform a wider public appreciation and understanding of this complex past, not only in Australia but also in Britain and Asia.”

“At a time of rising racial fears and prejudices both globally and nationally, this project offers new insights into a shared cross-cultural history in this country, strengthening Australia’s social and cultural fabric, and providing opportunities for positive international cultural initiatives.” 

More information

The online exhibition Ayahs & Amahs: Transcolonial Journeys will run until 8 June 2023 and can be viewed here: https://www.transcolonialjourneys.com/

More information about the ARC project Ayahs and Amahs: Transcolonial Servants in Australia and Britain 1780-1945 can be found here: https://ayahsandamahs.com/

Images from the exhibition are available for media use and can be downloaded from Dropbox

Images of amahs that came to Australia during World War II can be found at the State Library of New South Wales (these photos are in the public domain)

Media Assets for this article

  • Images

Media Contacts for this article

UOW Media Office

You may also be interested in

What makes pop songs so catchy?
The power and the pitfalls of personal storytelling
‘We are only passing through’: stories about memory, mortality and the effort of being alive
Services & Help
  • Current students
  • Library
  • Information technology
  • Accommodation
  • Security & safety
  • Pool, gym & retail
News, Media & Events
  • Media Centre
  • The Stand
  • Alumni Magazine
  • Research news
  • Events
  • Find an expert
Faculties
  • Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities
  • Business & Law
  • Engineering & Information Sciences
  • Science, Medicine & Health
Administration
  • Graduation
  • Environment
  • Policy directory
  • Learning and teaching
  • Financial Services
  • Access to information
  • Jobs
UOW Entities
  • Innovation Campus
  • UOW College Australia
  • UOW College Hong Kong
  • UOW in Dubai
  • UOW Global Enterprises
  • UOW Malaysia KDU
  • UOW Pulse
Connect with us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Conversation
  • Contact us
  • Feedback
  • Give to UOW

Northfields Ave Wollongong,  NSW 2522  Australia 
Phone: 1300 367 869 
International: +61 2 4221 3218 
Switchboard: +61 2 4221 3555

  • NUW Alliance: Smarter Solutions for NSW
  • University Global Partnership Network (UGPN)
  • Reconciliation Australia
  • AWEI LGBTQ inclusion awards logo

Aboriginal flag Torres Strait Islander flag

On the lands that we study, we walk, and we live, we acknowledge and respect the traditional custodians and cultural knowledge holders of these lands.

Copyright © 2023 University of Wollongong
CRICOS Provider No: 00102E | TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12062 | ABN: 61 060 567 686
Copyright & disclaimer | Privacy & cookie usage | Web Accessibility Statement

Close