Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

. / ,– I The Daily Sun 16 September 1982 Hair -- .. -- -------------- ---- 'Gifted Jumoke set to A childhood in the rarified tmosphere of upper-dau Nigerian society prepared Jumolce Debayo for her globe– trotting life. steal the show Mrs Debayo Is one of those rare and talented people who literally has the world as her stage, her workbench. The journalist, actress. producer, broadcaster and entrepreneur Is, at last, in one of the more far-flung outposts of her stage - Brisbane - to set up one of the greatest spectacles this old town has seen. Mrs Debayo Is co-ordi– nating a fantastic exhibi– tion or costumes, masks and jewellery from 47 Commonwealth nations in the Queensland Art Gal– lery. The exhib tlon will be held during the Common– wealth Games in conjunc– tion with Festival '82. She works on special projects like this, at a gov– ernmental level. all over the world. And she does it at breakneck speed and with enthusiasm. After a week in Brisbane d still too busy to grant an interview. I began to suspect she camped out in "The Gallery", pausing only occasionally to sleep and eat! JUMOKE DEBAY0. a wealth of exhibits for Festival '82. She hit earth. momen– tarily, for an hour and presented a curriculum vitae - born In Lagos, Ni– geria and educated at Winchester House. later Hollington Park school. Sussex. England. then at Guild Hall. London. Mrs Debayo is loath to talk about her family, but It is remark ble. Her paren ts were mem– .bers or the aristocracy. and if she were male, she would have sat on a thro- started the first black bank on the African conti– nent, the National Bank or Nlgeia, because the colonlali.lts would not deal with Nl~rians eager to start their own businesses. He was also Involved in in– troducing the film in- dustry and newspapers. Mrs Debayo and her four sisters had a privi– leged upbringing, which comes as a surprise to most people who imagine Africa as being a poor. underprivileged continent. When they were quite young. the five sisters were packed off to board– ing school in England - not a traumatic experi– ence, according to Mrs De– bayo, because the family was used to travelling. Jumoke studied arts at Guild Hall after leaving school in Sussex, and her niche in production. She fell into acting almost by accident. "I had a friend , Jeremy Conway, who had started an agency, and he told me I'd be a good comic ac– tress. because I was so much fun", she said. She has played leading roles in London's theatre. television and film world, and her list or credits as a broadcaster, producer and reporter is even longer. But the most important aspect now Is the costu– mes, masks and jewellery exhibition. She contacted people at the highest level In almost 50 Common– wealth countries and asked them to contribute something to the exhibi– tion. "I've recleved some very sacred things, pieces which would never nor– mally be lent out of fami– lies or countries. "Many people said 'Aus– tralia? It's so far away, you can't take our things there! '" But they arrived and Mrs Debayo Is busily set– ting them up Inside the stark cream interior of the Cultural Centre. There's something for everyone - Crom Princess Dlana·s wedding dress to shells rrom the Seychelles. And so smaller. poorer nations wouldn't feel em– barrassed about the pau– city or their contribution. Mrs Debayo has divided everything into disci– plines, like leatherwork and weaving, and pottery. rather than into separate countries. ....