Restoration Drawing: Wall Decoration Over Doorway in Mission House 1937

Curator: So charming, it almost feels like stepping into a child's fairytale book. All these folk-art style characters look very busy amidst trees full of something purple—maybe grapes? The red framing really makes it pop. I imagine that this could work as a play set backdrop, if I saw it out of context. Editor: This drawing is entitled "Restoration Drawing: Wall Decoration Over Doorway in Mission House," dating from 1937, by Geoffrey Holt. What strikes me is the implicit labor involved, literally suspended over the doorway. Notice the racial ambiguity, reflecting complex power dynamics within mission contexts and who is included or excluded from those historical depictions. Curator: Exactly. I felt drawn to that aspect as well, a slightly troubling aura that sits beneath all the obvious craft. All this red can suggest energy and vitality but also… something slightly disquieting about that forced cheer. Almost like a command to be joyful. Editor: Yes, because what are they restoring? How does its context change if the purpose of this decoration is to, let's say, mask structural damages? Curator: Or a desire to perhaps "sanitize" some uglier history of oppression with beautiful "folk" details—it might actually not be about repair so much as concealment. Editor: Indeed, a form of aesthetic colonialism—taking indigenous craft to whitewash history, projecting new visualities on top of very complex historical struggles. The artist is reproducing this tension rather than necessarily endorsing it, so how do we reconcile this ethical dilemma in a visually appealing drawing? Curator: We accept its inherent ambivalence. Let's celebrate the visual interest that's very clear while making clear that there's some uneasiness there as well. Maybe what it asks from viewers is something akin to careful looking that's not naive, that it might bring new meaning if someone is willing to invest enough patience and attention in it. Editor: I concur. By bringing these tensions to light, we can engage with art in a way that is reflective of our historical context. Now I wonder what "restoration" truly entails? Curator: Beautiful. Absolutely. It opens our vision toward more ethical and inclusive modes of seeing, helping us see more honestly and deeply.