Convict love tokens and contemporary art feature in UQ exhibition

An exhibition opening at The University of Queensland Art Museum next week aims to scratch below the surface of our economic systems to reveal money's enigmatic side. Creative Accounting features the work of Australian and international artists, archival objects from the Westpac Group Archives and the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, as well as artefacts and cultural material from regional and private collections across Australia. Visitors will see a collection of adding machines in widespread use from 1885, objects such as convict love tokens made from defaced copper coins, as well as ancient coins from UQ's RD Milns Antiquities Museum. Curator Holly Williams said money played a central role in our lives yet was often overlooked as an object of contemplation. "Money is many things at once: an intangible rendering of value, an agent of propaganda, and a decorative device," Ms Williams said. "Drawing from contemporary art, pop culture, alternative currencies, and banking archives, Creative Accounting will connect audiences with ideas around currency, economic systems and historical quirks at a time when money is becoming increasingly abstract in this digital age." UQ Art Museum Director Dr Campbell Gray said the scope of artworks and objects in Creative Accounting would generate thought-provoking conversations on a range of related topics. "I'm grateful to Museums and Galleries of NSW for the opportunity to welcome this touring exhibition to UQ Art Museum and to share its fascinating content with our local audiences," Dr Gray said.