Understanding Australia in The Age of Humans: Localising the Anthropocene. The project aims to undertake a comprehensive investigation of Australia as a distinctive locality within the global idea of the new epoch of humanity known as the Anthropocene. It aims to analyse and narrate how human interventions have come to transform Australian environments in fundamental and enduring ways, showing the history, impact and implications of human-influenced biophysical planetary change within our distin ....Understanding Australia in The Age of Humans: Localising the Anthropocene. The project aims to undertake a comprehensive investigation of Australia as a distinctive locality within the global idea of the new epoch of humanity known as the Anthropocene. It aims to analyse and narrate how human interventions have come to transform Australian environments in fundamental and enduring ways, showing the history, impact and implications of human-influenced biophysical planetary change within our distinctive and vulnerable continental and ocean environments. It also plans to use both print and museum environments to develop new understandings of the cultural dimensions of the ‘Age of Humans’.Read moreRead less
Objects of possession: artefact transactions in the wet tropics of North Queensland, 1870 -2013. The project's research into artefact collecting will provide Indigenous peoples, museum curators and other community members with important insights into the history of Indigenous cultures in the Wet Tropics region. Our project will contribute to the development of innovative ways of presenting Indigenous peoples' connections with their cultural heritage.
The legacy of 50 years of collecting at Milingimbi Mission. This project will bring life to Aboriginal material collections made at Milingimbi, in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. A model for museums and Aboriginal people will be made that will give more Aboriginal authority over collections and benefits the museum's knowledge base.
The Relational Museum and its Objects. This project, being conducted in collaboration with Indigenous communities and regional museums in Australia and the United Kingdom, aims to develop and to pilot approaches that facilitate Indigenous people’s access to and engagement with museum collections and objects. Reconnecting Indigenous Australian communities with ethnographic collections is central to contemporary museum practice. Yet, the historical dispersal of objects across museums, nationally a ....The Relational Museum and its Objects. This project, being conducted in collaboration with Indigenous communities and regional museums in Australia and the United Kingdom, aims to develop and to pilot approaches that facilitate Indigenous people’s access to and engagement with museum collections and objects. Reconnecting Indigenous Australian communities with ethnographic collections is central to contemporary museum practice. Yet, the historical dispersal of objects across museums, nationally and internationally, makes relationship and reconnection a challenge to communities and museums alike. The project seeks to address this and to contribute to new museum practice and museum development in Australia.Read moreRead less
Cultural heritage and the mediation of identity, memory and historical narratives. Anxiety pervades many Western countries about the direction, nature and expression of social debate regarding community identities, and the social and cultural values underpinning them. In developing our understanding of heritage, and how it is used to construct and legitimatise certain social values and identities in certain national, cultural and social contexts, the research will inform the development of museu ....Cultural heritage and the mediation of identity, memory and historical narratives. Anxiety pervades many Western countries about the direction, nature and expression of social debate regarding community identities, and the social and cultural values underpinning them. In developing our understanding of heritage, and how it is used to construct and legitimatise certain social values and identities in certain national, cultural and social contexts, the research will inform the development of museum and heritage exhibition/interpretation policies. In examining the agency of heritage audiences, the research will inform and facilitate the abilities of museum and heritage professionals to effectively convey messages about contentious issues or make more informed interventions into social debates.Read moreRead less
Return, reconcile, renew: understanding the history, effects and opportunities of repatriation and building an evidence base for the future. The repatriation of ancestral remains is an extraordinary Indigenous achievement and inter-cultural development of the past 40 years. This international project will provide critical new knowledge to understand repatriation, its history and effects and will provide scholarly and public outcomes that empower community-based research and practice.
Engaging objects: Indigenous communities, museum collections and the representation of Indigenous histories. This project centres on the research process leading up to a major exhibition in Australia of the British Museum's Australian Indigenous collections. By exploring the historical and representational issues evoked in creating this exhibition, new understandings of these collections and their historical and contemporary significance will result.
Making Room for the Past: Determining significance in archaeological collections from historic sites. As a consequence of a recent rapid increase in archaeological excavations, Australian museums no longer have resources to store or conserve all archaeological material and require a systematic means of establishing collection management priorities. Through industry and academic consultation and case studies of particular collections, this research will develop criteria for assessing the research ....Making Room for the Past: Determining significance in archaeological collections from historic sites. As a consequence of a recent rapid increase in archaeological excavations, Australian museums no longer have resources to store or conserve all archaeological material and require a systematic means of establishing collection management priorities. Through industry and academic consultation and case studies of particular collections, this research will develop criteria for assessing the research potential or scientific significance of individual artefacts and entire collections from historic sites. Along with recognised measures of social and historical significance, the criteria will provide guidelines with which museums can develop national management strategies for this unique heritage.Read moreRead less
Australian Indigenous Collectors and Collections. 'Indigenous Collectors and Collections' considers Indigenous people's contemporary roles in shaping private and public collections, and the influence of historical circumstances and ideas of communal ownership and responsibility. It therefore subverts the dominant emphasis upon Europeans as collectors and appropriators of indigenous objects. By considering Indigenous people as collectors, curators and presenters of beloved objects, this project w ....Australian Indigenous Collectors and Collections. 'Indigenous Collectors and Collections' considers Indigenous people's contemporary roles in shaping private and public collections, and the influence of historical circumstances and ideas of communal ownership and responsibility. It therefore subverts the dominant emphasis upon Europeans as collectors and appropriators of indigenous objects. By considering Indigenous people as collectors, curators and presenters of beloved objects, this project will offer major new perspectives on Australian Indigenous history and museology. By exploring the power of material objects in cultural identity and historical consciousness, this project disrupts the stereotype of Indigenous people as purely 'museum victims'.Read moreRead less
Studies of the degradation of dyes and pigments in inks on paper, in photographic media, and on painted surfaces. The National collecting institutions (the National Archives of Australia, the National Museum of Australia,Screen Sound Australia, the National Library of Australia, and the Australian War Memorial) have collections important to our national heritage on paper, photographic film and other media which they are required by law to preserve for future generations of Australians. Surveys ....Studies of the degradation of dyes and pigments in inks on paper, in photographic media, and on painted surfaces. The National collecting institutions (the National Archives of Australia, the National Museum of Australia,Screen Sound Australia, the National Library of Australia, and the Australian War Memorial) have collections important to our national heritage on paper, photographic film and other media which they are required by law to preserve for future generations of Australians. Surveys of their collections have shown that a significant proportion of their most important collections is in need of conservation. This project aims at determining ways of conserving these valuable artefacts, and developing strategies for their display and storage.Read moreRead less