Haldane Sinclair "Hal" Holman (29 August 1922 – 20 June 2016) was an Australian sculptor, artist, and designer.

Early life

Holman was born in Sydney and attended Sydney High School and

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

(1932). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served as a

commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

in the

New Guinea campaign The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Territory of New Guinea on 23 January and Territory of Papua on ...

. He operated behind

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

lines on the mainland and was attached to the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

who landed in

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

. After

demobilisation Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...

Holman was awarded a Diploma of Art at

East Sydney Technical College The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...

, now known as the National Art School.

Art career

Upon graduation, Holman went to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and worked for three years as an art director for the Advertising Corporation of India. After returning to Australia he was a designer in the film industry and produced set designs and made thirteen animated short films. Holman later moved to

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

and was appointed Senior Artist for the

Government of Papua New Guinea The politics of Papua New Guinea takes place in a framework of a Parliamentary system, parliamentary Representative democracy, representative democratic multi-party system, whereby the List of Prime Ministers of the Papua New Guinea, prime min ...

. In that role he designed the

Emblem of Papua New Guinea The national emblem of Papua New Guinea consists of a Raggiana bird-of-paradise, bird-of-paradise over a traditional spear and a ''kundu (drum), kundu'' drum. Designed by Hal Holman, an Australian artist working for the Politics of Papua New Guin ...

and was involved in the design of the

National Flag A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...

, which was developed into its final design by schoolgirl Susan Karike. He also designed the uniforms of the PNG Constabulary Band and created a one-tonne metal sculpture of the National Crest for the Supreme Court building.Biography
Retrieved 20 July 2013.

Honours

* Officer of Logohu for distinguished service to Papua New Guinea *

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

for service to the arts as a designer and sculptorIt's an Honour
Retrieved 20 July 2013.

Gallery

File:Joserizal.jpeg, Bust of

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is popularly considered a na ...

by Holman File:National emblem of Papua New Guinea (variant).svg,

flag of Papua New Guinea The flag of Papua New Guinea was adopted on 1 July 1971. In the Flag terminology#Description of standard flag parts and terms, hoist, it depicts the Crux, Southern Cross; in the Flag terminology#Description of standard flag parts and terms, fly ...

File:Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg, Susan Karike's final flag design utilising aspects of Holman's work.

References

1922 births 2016 deaths Australian artists People educated at Newington College {{Australia-artist-stub