The Makers and Making of Indigenous Australian Museum Collections

The Makers and Making of Indigenous Australian Museum Collections
Author: Nicolas Peterson
Publisher: Academic Monographs
Total Pages: 614
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN: 0522855687

This volume of original essays brings together, for the first time, histories of the making and of the makers of most of the major Indigenous Australian museum collections. These collections are a principal source of information on how Aboriginal people lived in the past. Knowing the context in which any collection was created-the intellectual frameworks within which the collectors were working, their collecting practices, what they failed to collect, and what Aboriginal people withheld-is vital to understanding how any collection relates to the Aboriginal society from which it was derived. Once made, collections have had mixed fates: some have become the jewel of a museum's holdings, while others have been divided and dispersed across the world, or retained but neglected. The essays in this volume raise issues about representation, institutional policies, the periodisation of collecting, intellectual history, material culture studies, Aboriginal culture and the idea of a 'collection'.

Aboriginal Sydney

Aboriginal Sydney
Author: Melinda Hinkson
Publisher: Aboriginal Studies Press
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2010-10-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0855757124

The popular first edition established itself as both authoritative and informative; it is both a guide book and an alternative social history, told through precincts of significance to the city’s Indigenous people. The sites within the precincts, and their accompanying stories and photographs, evoke Sydney’s ancient past, and allow us all to celebrate the living Aboriginal culture of today. Now available as a phone app from iTunes or Google Play: http://bit.ly/16s9zI0

Ancestors, Artefacts, Empire

Ancestors, Artefacts, Empire
Author: Gaye Sculthorpe
Publisher:
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2021-09-02
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780714124902

Using extraordinary Indigenous Australian art and artifacts preserved in museums across Great Britain and Ireland, the authors present a global history that entwines ancestral pasts with epochs of empire and colony leading to the contemporary moment.

The Inside World

The Inside World
Author: Henry F. Skerritt
Publisher: Prestel
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019
Genre: ART
ISBN: 9783791358161

"Traditionally used in Aboriginal funeral ceremonies, memorial poles have been transformed into compelling contemporary artworks. The memorial pole is made from the trunk of the Eucalyptus tetradonta, hollowed naturally by termites. When the bones of the deceased were placed inside, it signified the moment when the spirit had finally returned home--when they had left the "outside" world, and become one with the "inside" world of the ancestral realm. Today, these works of art have become a powerful symbol of Aboriginal culture's significance around the globe. The artists featured in the book--including John Mawurndjul, Djambawa Marawili, and Nyapanyapa Yunupingu--are some of Australia's most acclaimed contemporary artists. Taking their inspiration from ancient clan insignia, the designs on these poles are transformed in new and personal ways that offer a powerful reminder of the resilience and beauty of Aboriginal culture. This book features dazzling color images and impeccable scholarship and includes essays from some of the leading scholars in the field of Aboriginal art"--

King Plates

King Plates
Author: Jakelin Troy
Publisher: Aboriginal Studies Press
Total Pages: 159
Release: 1993
Genre: Aboriginal Australians
ISBN: 0855752475

Descriptions and illustrations of gorgets (breastplates) held by the National Museum of Australia; history of king plates; list of references to Aboriginal people wearing gorgets and known Aboriginal gorgets.

The Long Way Home

The Long Way Home
Author: Paul Turnbull
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2010-11-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1845459598

Indigenous peoples have long sought the return of ancestral human remains and associated artifacts from western museums and scientific institutions. Since the late 1970s their efforts have led museum curators and researchers to re-evaluate their practices and policies in respect to the scientific uses of human remains. New partnerships have been established between cultural and scientific institutions and indigenous communities. Human remains and culturally significant objects have been returned to the care of indigenous communities, although the fate of bones and burial artifacts in numerous collections remains unresolved and, in some instances, the subject of controversy. In this book, leading researchers from a wide range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences reflect critically on the historical, cultural, ethical and scientific dimensions of repatriation. Through various case studies they consider the impact of repatriation: what have been the benefits, and in what ways has repatriation given rise to new problems for indigenous people, scientists and museum personnel. It features chapters by indigenous knowledge custodians, who reflect upon recent debates and interaction between indigenous people and researchers in disciplines with direct interests in the continued scientific preservation of human remains. In this book, leading researchers from a wide range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences reflect critically on the historical, cultural, ethical and scientific dimensions of repatriation. Through various case studies they consider the impact of repatriation: what have been the benefits, and in what ways has repatriation given rise to new problems for indigenous people, scientists and museum personnel. It features chapters by indigenous knowledge custodians, who reflect upon recent debates and interaction between indigenous people and researchers in disciplines with direct interests in the continued scientific preservation of human remains.

Crossing Cultures

Crossing Cultures
Author: Hood Museum of Art
Publisher: Hood Museum of Art
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2012
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780944722442

New scholarship on a world-caliber museum collection of Aboriginal Australian art

The Makers and Making Of Indigenous Australian Museum Collections

The Makers and Making Of Indigenous Australian Museum Collections
Author: Nicolas Peterson
Publisher: Melbourne Univ. Publishing
Total Pages: 614
Release: 2008-08-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 0522859895

This volume of original essays brings together, for the first time, histories of the making and of the makers of most of the major Indigenous Australian museum collections. These collections are a principal source of information on how Aboriginal people lived in the past. Knowing the context in which any collection was created; the intellectual frameworks within which the collectors were working, their collecting practices, what they failed to collect, and what Aboriginal people withheld; is vital to understanding how any collection relates to the Aboriginal society from which it was derived. Once made, collections have had mixed fates: some have become the jewel of a museum's holdings, while others have been divided and dispersed across the world, or retained but neglected. The essays in this volume raise issues about representation, institutional policies, the periodisation of collecting, intellectual history, material culture studies, Aboriginal culture and the idea of a 'collection'.

Everywhen

Everywhen
Author: Henry F. Skerritt
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2016-01-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0300214707

"This publication accompanies the exhibition Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 5 through September 18, 2016."

Science, Museums and Collecting the Indigenous Dead in Colonial Australia

Science, Museums and Collecting the Indigenous Dead in Colonial Australia
Author: Paul Turnbull
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 436
Release: 2017-11-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 3319518747

This book draws on over twenty years’ investigation of scientific archives in Europe, Australia, and other former British settler colonies. It explains how and why skulls and other bodily structures of Indigenous Australians became the focus of scientific curiosity about the nature and origins of human diversity from the early years of colonisation in the late eighteenth century to Australia achieving nationhood at the turn of the twentieth century. The last thirty years have seen the world's indigenous peoples seek the return of their ancestors' bodily remains from museums and medical schools throughout the western world. Turnbull reveals how the remains of the continent's first inhabitants were collected during the long nineteenth century by the plundering of their traditional burial places. He also explores the question of whether museums also acquired the bones of men and women who were killed in Australian frontier regions by military, armed police and settlers.