Maralinga souvenir clock
Object No. 85/1043
Maralinga is located in the far west of South Australia and is part of the traditional lands of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people. This mechanical clock in the shape of mainland Australia has a metal disc attached to the front with the word ‘Maralinga’ at the bottom and a blue and red illustration above depicting a double mushroom cloud atomic explosion. It is an improbable souvenir of the history of British nuclear testing that took place in Australia between 1952-1963 and the tragic legacy of these tests. The nuclear tests were undertaken with the agreement and funding support of the Australian government, led by Robert Menzies. The first atomic bomb tests at Maralinga commenced in 1956 despite the fact that Anangu Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people were living on country. Nuclear fallout from the explosions contaminated large parts of the region and exposed many people to high levels of radioactivity including Indigenous people and military personal who were deliberately exposed to radiation during the trials. Long-term illness and the environmental devastation of traditional lands are some of the terrible impacts of the Maralinga nuclear testing. In 1985 the McClelland Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia found “the resources allocated for Aboriginal welfare and safety were ludicrous, amounting to nothing more than a token gesture” (National Archives of Australia). The Royal Commission recommended the British Government pay costs for cleaning up the environment and the Australian Government should pay compensation to the many victims of the testing. Anangu Elder Jeremy LeBois has represented the Maralinga community in relation to the history of the nuclear tests. He has said “Nothing gets forgotten when our grandparents tell us something, but we've got to live with what happened here."1 The souvenir clock that commemorates this disaster is a troubling object. The motivations for making this clock are unknown. It was found by a Powerhouse curator in 1985 at an antiques market in Chippendale, Sydney. There are no details of the maker or brand on the surface, it appears to be composed of disparate parts - a mulga wood ornament in the shape of Australia, a German manufactured clock mechanism and the Maralinga metal disc. As former curator Peter Cox has written “Its banality contradicts the enormity of its subject. It trivialises tragedy.”2 Madeline Poll, Assistant Registrar (ATSI Collection) and Katie Dyer, Senior Curator Contemporary, 2021 1. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-01/maralinga-retelling-the-story-of-britains-atomic-bomb-testing/11249874 2. Peter Cox ‘Maralinga Souvenir Clock’ in Evidence: Brook Andrew, exh cat, MAAS Media, 2015, p. 60-67
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Summary
Object Statement
Clock, Maralinga souvenir, mulga wood / metal / glass / plastic, clock face maker not recorded, made in West Germany, souvenir maker not recorded, made in Australia, 1956-1980
Physical Description
A mechanical clock set in a solid block casing of varnished mulga wood, in the shape of the Australian mainland. The inset rectangular clock face is cream with a border of silver metal. The Arabic numerals are gilt. The hands are made of gilt luminous material. The words 'West Germany' appear at the bottom of the face. To the right of the clock face an enameled metal disc is attached to the wood. It has a silver background with a blue and red illustration of an atomic explosion with a double mushroom cloud above the word 'Maralinga' in red. The clock's winders and dials protrude from a metal plate at the back. This plate covers a separate rectangular wooden block at the back that is attached to the Australia-shaped block by two metal screws. Next to this rectangular block is glued a faded paper sticker, blue with a brown map of Australia. Now barely visible on the sticker, but included in a hand-written description on the object file, is a red picture of a slouch hat and the words [xxx[ Mulga [xxx]. Two wooden pegs are glued on the back of the mount towards the base, acting as support for standing.
DIMENSIONS
Height
132 mm
Width
177 mm
Depth
63 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
No maker's name appears on the surface or inside. The product is a composite of three separately made components, the wooden block, the clock mechanism and the metal disc. The hand-made wooden block in the shape of Australia has been cut with a bandsaw from a template and attached with glue and screws to a rectangular piece holding the clock mechanism at the back. The timepiece itself is of a type that was designed to be embedded in ornamental products rather than sold separately. It is set squarely and evenly in the wooden block. Its place of manufacture is marked on the face as 'West Germany'. The glow-in-the-dark paint on the clock's hands and on the twelve dots representing each hour is probably not a radioactive substance like radium, which was used for this purpose in earlier years, but another luminous compound. The metal disc on the right, bearing the image of the mushroom cloud and the word 'Maralinga', is adhered flush to the surface, not inset. It is not centred between the clock and the edge, and seems clumsily positioned. The layout lacks the proportion and balance that we expect of a mass produced item. At the time of its acquisition the product was assumed to originate from the period of the Maralinga bomb tests (1956-1963) but a later date (up to the mid-1980s) is plausible.
HISTORY
Notes
Purchased on 17 June 1985 for $65 from a stall atThe Old Ark, an antiques market in City Road, Chippendale.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Purchased 1985
Acquisition Date
27 June 1985
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