Riji (pearl-shell ornament) Kimberley Aboriginal people. Acquired by Emile Clement in the 1920s (Credit: © The Trustees of the British Museum)
A partnership with the British Museum (BM), London and the National Museum of Australia (NMA), Canberra has resulted in a rare exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander objects collected from the first contact period in the late 1700s between Indigenous Australians and European settlers.
The exhibition, Encounters: Revealing Stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Objects from the British Museum, showcases some of the most significant artifacts from this period including two spears and a shield believed to have been collected at Botany Bay in 1770 from the first encounter between Indigenous Australians and Lieutenant James Cook.
After a chance discovery of four Tom Roberts paintings in the British Museum archives by then NMA researcher and now senior curator Ian Coates in 2007, it was evident that the objects from those shared histories had to be brought to Australian shores.
‘It was part of realising that how these objects are connected not just to Indigenous people in Australia but to non-Indigenous people too and to realise the history,’ said Coates.
The exhibition features 151 objects from the British Museum, which include Torres Strait Islander turtle-shell masks, weaved baskets, didgeridoos, shell ornaments, carved poles, shields and boomerangs, and sketches and paintings by European settlers.
Over a four-year period the National Museum has been in collaboration with 27 Indigenous communities across Australia. Video interviews discussing the importance of the objects and the places they were first acquired will be part of the exhibition, along with 138 contemporary art works from these communities.
Peter Yu, Indigenous Reference Group Chair and NMA Council member said the contemporary objects being presented were a marker of the ongoing resilience and the integrity of Indigenous culture and practices.
‘On one hand there is the question of the nature of the brutality of the settlement and on the other hand there is the inspiring story of the resilience of the First People communities, and the continuing survival of culture as a practice.’
He said that the exhibition, ‘attempts to juxtapose these particular issues – it’s not shying away from the legacies of some of the grievances – but it celebrates its survival and continuity.’
Coates said the purpose of the exhibition was to reconnect these objects with their history and with their contemporary relevance to all Australians.
‘It’s a real opportunity for people to come to the show and reflect on the fact that their even being there is part of the story.
‘It’s an important occasion to think about the past and how that has affected the present and talk about how do we want relations to be between people from settler backgrounds and people from Indigenous backgrounds.’
Coates believes that the physical property of these objects is of real value in anchoring these conversations.
‘It’s not just words, these are real objects – we know those things happened because these objects came from those actions. And so therefore it’s much harder to dismiss it.’
The objects will be seen in Australia for the first time and this obviously brings up the thorny issue of repatriation of these objects to traditional owners here in Australia.
‘It’s a very sensitive and emotional issue and rightly so. And I think what the exhibition will do is continue to help to contribute to the debate and to the discussion about repatriation.
‘And you have to remember that there’s a speculation about how those objects were acquired and there’ll always be debate about that,’ added Yu.
Some of the objects have been revealed to be as exchanged as gifts, some were part of trade and but some do have the brutality of violence attached to their acquisition.
Yu said it was necessary to come together in celebration of these ‘national treasures’ and the integrity of the culture that produced them.
‘The challenge for Australians is to own that history, that Aboriginal culture – to embrace it with dignity and pride, because it’s just not for Aboriginal people, I think it’s part of the maturation process of this nation,’ added Yu.
An extensive range of Encounters themed programs and events including curator talks, children’s activities, lectures, festivals, performances and more will also run while the exhibition is on show.
The museum has partnered with luxury hotel QT Canberra to offer visitors a special exhibition package which includes: overnight accommodation in a QT Queen Room, Breakfast for 2 adults in Capitol Bar & Grill, Overnight car parking, an official Encounters catalogue, gift bag and fast-track exhibition entry, all for $220 per night.
Encounters opened on 27 November 2015 and will run until 28 March 2016 with entry to the exhibition being free. For more information, visit the museum website.
