THE WINSTON CHURCHILL MEMORIAL TRUST OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Report by -

Dr Philip Jones -

2001 Churchill Fellow

‘To study Aboriginal collections in European museums’

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INDEX

Introduction

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Executive Summary …………………………………………..……………

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Programme…………………………………………………...…………….

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Modus Operandi……………………………………………….…....

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Exhibitions and Museology…………………………………….…...

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Museums Visited: A Brief Summary of Results………………………. …

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Neprajzi Museum, Budapest…………………………………..…….

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Panstowe Museum, Warsaw…………………………………..…….

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Musée de l’Homme, Musée des Arts Africain et Océanique…….…

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Mueseum of Ethnography, Dresden…………………………...……

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Museum of Cultures, Basel……………………………………… …

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Pigorini Museum, Rome…………………………………………….

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Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh…………………………………

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Royal Albert Museum, Exeter……………………………………….

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Royal Africa Museum, Tervuren, Brussels………………………….

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Conclusions and Recommendations………………………………………..

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‘Aboriginal Australia’ in European collections………………………

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A ‘distributed collection’…………………………………………….

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Museum practice……………………………………………………..

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INTRODUCTION This Fellowship involved a detailed survey of collections of Aboriginal material culture dating from the nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries, held in nine European museums. My objective was to make a substantial contribution to knowledge about this crucial element of Australia’s cultural heritage, and to understand something of the way in which Aboriginal collections are managed and regarded within Europe. During my Fellowship I visited eleven museums and undertook an intensive survey of Aboriginal collections at nine of these. I interviewed the responsible curators and discussed the Aboriginal collections within the broader context of European museology. The main body of my work entailed a detailed survey of these little-known Aboriginal collections. I examined and compiled a digital photographic database of more than 1,800 artefacts. My Fellowship began during the week of June 4, in Budapest, Hungary, and ended in Brussels on 30 August, 2001. The Fellowship was preceded by a week’s visit to Valencia in Spain, for the opening of an exhibition of archival photographs from the South Australian Museum, which I had curated. Following the completion of the Fellowship I remained in Europe to attend the opening of another South Australian Museum exhibition, ‘Boomerang’, in Warsaw, Poland on 20th September. This intensive but highly rewarding Fellowship programme would not have been achievable without the support of the following individuals at the museums which I visited from June to August. Dr Wilhelm Gabor, Curator, Asian Collections, Neprajzi Ethnographic Museum, Budapest, Hungary (4-9 June) Robert Andrej Dul, Curator, Oceania Collections, Panstwowe Ethnographic Museum , Warsaw, Poland (11-17 June) Christian Coiffier, Curator, Oceania Collections, Musée de l’Homme, Paris (25-29 June) Dr Françoise Cousin, Curator, Technology Collections, Musée de l’Homme, Paris (25-29 June) Dr Yves le Fur, Curator, Oceania Collections, Musée de l’Arts Africain et Océanique, Paris (2529 June) Beatrice Voirol, Assistant Curator, Oceania Collections, Museum of Ethnography, Dresden, Germany (2 – 6 July) Dr Christian Kauffmann, Curator, Oceania Collections, Museum of Cultures, Basel, Switzerland (9-11 July) Dr Marco Biscioni, Curator, Oceania Collections, Pigorini Ethnographic Museum, Rome, Italy (16-23 July) Danielle Serini, Curator, Oceania Collections, Vatican Ethnographic Museum, Rome, Italy (26 July) Chantal Knowles, Curator, Oceania Collections, Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, Scotland (30 July – 3 August) Dr Len Pole, Curator, Oceania Collections, Royal Albert Museum, Exeter, England (20 – 24 August) Dr Gustaaf Verswijver, Head, Anthropology Department, Royal Africa Museum, Tervuren, Belgium (27-30 August).

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Dr Philip Jones, Senior Curator, Department of Anthropology, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, S.A. 5000. Tel: (08) 82077325 Fax (08) 82077422 Email: (work) [email protected] (home) [email protected]

Project Description: This Fellowship involved a detailed survey of little-known collections of Aboriginal material culture dating from the nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries, held in nine European museums. A total of 1800 objects were examined and recorded in detail, and are now being incorporated within a computer database.

Project Highlights: The main highlight of the project was my successful listing and description of 1800 Aboriginal objects, in a form which will facilitate their future access by researchers and by Aboriginal communities. Of the nine museums surveyed in detail, the collections in Rome and Dresden perhaps contained the objects of greatest ethnographic interest, relating to regions in southwestern and south-eastern Australia for which few early records survive in Australian collections. The project also gave me the opportunity to examine current museum practice and theory in Europe. My discussions in Paris relating to the development of a new ethnographic museum there were particularly useful. I owe a debt of gratitude to the curators mentioned above, who adjusted their own busy programmes to accommodate me, and whose kind cooperation has helped ensure that their previously little-known collections join a broader circle of scholarship and investigation. Project Results: I now have a clearer picture of the composition and signficance of European collections of Aboriginal material, and have developed an insight into the history of their formation. These collections are of immense cultural significance to Australia, and once the full results of my Fellowship investigations have been compiled, I will be recommending a project to fully document the European and North American collections of Aboriginal material. I am preparing a series of cd-roms containing the results of my survey, relating to each museum visited, and will lodge copies of these with those museums, as well as with relevant Australian museums and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in Canberra. Australian museum ethnology is at a critical stage of development, following the museumbuilding phase of the 1990s. My Fellowship has underlined the importance of strengthening the profession through dialogue and action such as joint exhibitions and research projects based upon these little-known collections which link Europe and Australia. If realised, such projects will bring a new contemporary relevance to these historic collections.

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PROGRAMME My objective was to survey museums from a range of European countries, rather than concentrating upon museums in single countries such as Britain or Germany which hold the bulk of Aboriginal collections in Europe. There were three reasons for this approach: - It enabled me to to obtain a broad view of Aboriginal collections in Europe as a continental phenomenon arising from the period of colonialism and imperialism centred in Europe. - to better observe various methods used in different European countries to store, describe, conserve and display ethnographic material. - to build up a picture of a European-wide network of those individual collectors who are represented in several museums. My primary concern was to inspect, handle, and if possible, photograph and describe as many Aboriginal objects as I could, within the time allowed by the Fellowship. From the nine museums surveyed I have prepared a detailed database of more than 1,800 individual objects, with an accompanying file of 5,000 digital photographs. I estimate that this composite collection from ten museums represents perhaps 5% of the total holdings of Aboriginal artefacts in more than 80 European museums, a ‘distributed collection’ of some 30,000 to 40,000 objects. In sampling and documenting these Aboriginal collections I had two main aims: - to build up a picture of the total European collection in terms of the main categories of objects collected, regions of Aboriginal Australia represented, and the significance of this material when measured against the historic collections preserved within Australia. - To understand something of the network of collectors who originally obtained this material and to trace the subsequent trajectories of their collections towards European museums. A wider aim was to build a picture of how these histories might contribute towards a better understanding of this crucial but largely unknown element of Australia’s cultural heritage.

Modus operandi My approach in the case of each museum was firstly to obtain access to the collections through the relevant curator before arrival, by correspondence. On arrival I met the curator and discussed the general background to the collection and possible constraints affecting my work. The curator usually introduced me to the documentation system relating to the collection (usually registers and card indexes rather than computers, even though these systems were also in use), and made me aware of any additional documentation such as historical correspondence and archival photographs relating to the collection. The main part of my work then began, from a work station in the collection store itself. I established myself at a work table with my laptop computer, digital camera, measuring rule and notebook. In several museums I was given free access to the collections at this point, enabling me to work through the objects at my own pace, category by category, artefact by artefact. In three museums, where existing protocols constrained the curator from offering this level of access, I worked with the curator or curatorial assistant who brought me the objects one by one, and returned them to their storage positions.

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I had selected particular museum collections on the basis of their predominant holdings of nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Aboriginal artefacts, before the material culture traditions were substantially altered through European contact. The focus of my research was the suite of tools and weapons in daily use by Aboriginal people across the continent. Because of this emphasis, two categories of artefacts were not closely examined in this survey: Aboriginal art objects, and restricted, or secret-sacred material. Aboriginal art objects, such as those among the large Karel Kupka collection in Basel, have generally received most attention from specialists, and I felt justified in omitting these from my survey. I documented ceremonial and ritual objects when these were located but did not do so in great detail, as these objects have also been explored more fully by specialists. I was only able to document a small proportion of a third category of objects – that of Aboriginal spears – for other reasons. In the first place, spears are extremely difficult to photograph satisfactorily, and have also been difficult items for museums to store. Thus the spear collections in Brussels and Basel were stored separately and were not available to me, while those in Paris, Edinburgh, Rome, Exeter, and Dresden were relatively inaccessible. The Warsaw, Budapest and Exeter collections contained fewer than ten examples each. My approach involved the close examination, documentation, measurement and photography of as many Aboriginal artefacts as possible within the available time. I entered my data into a Filemaker Pro database onto a 10 gigabyte hard-drive in a Toshiba laptop computer, resulting in a database of some 1,800 individual records of artefacts. Supporting this is a file of some 4,500 digital photographs of the artefacts and 2,000 additional photographs of supporting documentation such as data-cards. These photographs were taken with a Canon G1 digital camera and were later backed up onto cd-rom copies. My method was to enter details of each object onto my database, comprising a brief description of the object and its dimensions, together with its provenance details (collector and locality if available), and notes on any particular features. More than 90% of the object types encountered were known to me, and I was able to confirm, correct or add suggested details regarding provenance to each museum’s own documentation. Exhibitions and Museology Most of the museums I visited had at least some Aboriginal material on display within their exhibitions. I made notes on these aspects as well as broader observations on the style of the larger ethnographic exhibitions which usually focused upon other cultures such as Africa and the Pacific. The amount of detailed analysis required to complete my project in each museum allowed only a cursory examination of these exhibitions. I was able to discuss the present state of museum ethnography with some curators at length, both in terms of the status and future of Australian ethnography within these institutions, and in terms of the profession’s broader situation. It clearly emerged from these discussions and from my own observations that museum ethnography is, despite budgetary restraints, an integral part of cultural activity in Britain and Europe. In Britain, like Australia, museum ethnography tends to operate within a natural history or social history museum context, while continental Europe supports a much greater proportion of dedicated ethnographic museums, whose brief extends from former colonial possessions to European folk culture itself. Museum ethnography throughout Britain and Europe is still experiencing a period of intense selfexamination and external critique, arising from the post-colonial experience. The active participation of indigenous people from former colonies in these debates is helping to change the

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nature of research undertaken by these ethnographic museums and is influencing attitudes towards collections and exhibitions. Museologically, my most rewarding period was spent in Paris, where I was able to participate in a seminar involving staff of the two existing ethnographic museums, concerning the impending construction and opening (in the year 2004) of the Musée Quai Branly, which will take the place of these museums, merging their functions. This initiative has become controversial, and calls into question many of the past and present ethnographic practices relating to research, fieldwork, collection, storage and display. These issues have direct relevance in the Australian situation, where there is increasing debate about the role of museums in popular and academic culture.

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MUSEUMS VISITED: A BRIEF SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Neprajzi Museum, Budapest, Hungary

Generous access and valuable insights into the collections provided by the Curator of Asian collections, Wilhelm Gabor. I was able to photograph and document more than 210 objects, representing 95% of the Australian collection. Features: - Aboriginal artefacts collected by the Budapest psyschiatrist and anthropologist, Geza Roheim, during his research expedition to Hermannsburg, Central Australia, 1929-31. Mainly ceremonial and religious artefacts. The collection varies in important ways from material acquired by the South Australian Museum during the same period; evidence that the Hermannsburg schoolteacher, H.A. Heinrich, was central to both transactions. -

Small but valuable collection of rare nineteenth-century Aboriginal artefacts collected during the visit of the Austro-Hungarian frigate ‘Panther’ to Sydney and northern Australia. I was able to identify the source of this collection as a Sydney dealer operating ca.1890-1910.

Ceremonial trumpet Hermannsburg Roheim 132164

Spearthrower Arrernte people Roheim 132145

Emu feather plume Hermannsburg Roheim 132171

Stone axe Arrernte people Roheim 132137

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Shield Jervis Bay, NSW ‘Panther’ 72138

Panstwowe Museum of Ethnography, Warsaw, Poland

Generous access and additional data supplied by the Curator of Oceania Collections, Robert Andrej Dul. I was able to photograph and document more than 230 objects, representing 98% of the Australian collection. Features: - Collection of physical anthropologist Hermann Klaatsch, with particularly significant collections from Broome, W.A. and Cooktown, Qld, acquired ca. 1905. - Important collection of South Australian Aboriginal artefacts obtained by the Polish doctor Jana Lukowicz during his residence in Australia (1890s-1920s), together with documentation relating to this collection obtained from his grand-daughter during my subsequent visit to Poland in September. I was able to organise and participate in the opening (by the Australian Consul to Poland) of the South Australian Museum’s Boomerang exhibition at the Panstowe Museum on September 21, following the completion of my Fellowship work.

Reverse of shield Broome, ca.1905 Klaatsch, 5255

String chest-band Port Darwin, 1905 Klaatsch, 13315

Details of clubs Gawler Ranges? Lukowicz, 10626

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Spearthrower peg Cooktown, 1905 Klaatsch 5103

Bark basket Broome, 1905 Klaatsch, 11476

Musée de l’Homme, Musée des Arts Africains et Océanique, Paris, France

Limited access was provided to this collection by the Curator of Oceania Collections, Christian Coiffier, owing to the impending move of collections to a new museum. Features: - Series of outstanding shields, spearthrowers and clubs, contributed to the Paris Exhibition, 1878, by Australian colonial governments, particularly those of Victoria and New South Wales. I was able to learn about the evolving plans for a new ethnographic museum in Paris, obtaining perspectives from several of the curators involved, from the Musée de l’Homme and the Musée des Arts Africains et Océanique. I also attended a full-day conference on this subject, in which the controversial plans and new directions for museum ethnography based in the new Museum Quai Branly were debated.

Detail of club, Coastal N.S.W., Early 19th century

Kodj axe, S.W. Western Aust Early 19th century

Lil-lil club, Western N.S.W. 1879 Exposition

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Spearthrower, Victoria 1878 Exposition

Detail of spearthrower Victoria 1878 Exposition

Museum of Ethnography, Dresden, Germany

Generous access to the collection and accompanying documentation was provided by Beatrice Voirol, Assistant Curator of Oceania Collections, and by Frau Preuss, Registrar. I was able to photograph and document 188 objects, representing 90% of the Australian collection. Features: - An outstanding and little known collection of nineteenth century Aboriginal artefacts contributed by a range of collectors, including the German engineer Franz Reuleaux , the photographer H. Krone and the soldier G. Teichmann. - Series of shields, clubs, boomerangs and baskets collected by the pioneer botanist Ferdinand von Mueller, from Victoria, 1870s. - Series of artefacts obtained by the first missionaries at Mapoon and Aurukun on Cape York Peninsula, ca. 1900 and by the Moravian missionary F.A. Hagenauer from Ramahyuk mission in Victoria, 1870s. - Data-cards illustrating 28 Aboriginal artefacts lost in the bombing of Dresden. I was able to closely inspect the Dresden Museum’s latest ethnographic exhibition dealing with Papua New Guinea, one of the outstanding examples of its type in Europe.

Shield, Murray River, S.A.. G. Teichmann, 1914 34578

Rush basket, Yarra Yarra, Vic. Von Mueller, 1875 9467

Hair belt, pearl shells, Kimberley, W.A. E. Clement, 1925 35044

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Ceremonial bark figure Victoria, 1870s, A. Haganauer 68262

Painted basket, Van Diemens Gulf, N.T. A Schneidel, 1902 14362

Museum of Cultures, Basel, Switzerland

Generous access to the collection and accompanying documentation was provided by Dr Christian Kauffmann, Curator of the Oceania Collections. I was able to photograph and document more than 160 objects, representing 80% of the Australian collection. Features: - Large and well documented collection obtained by the British collector, E. Clement, from the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of Western Australia, 1890s. - Important collection of Melville Island and Arnhem Land material culture dating from 1931 (a period not well represented in Australian collections) obtained by a Basel museum expedition, supplemented by similar material collected by the missionary Rev. T. Webb. - Significant ceremonial items collected by the Lutheran missionary Carl Strehlow from Arrernte people of Central Australia, sent originally to the Frankfurt Museum, then transferred (the Frankfurt collection subsequently destroyed in war). The curator, Dr Kauffmann, is one of the pioneers of contemporary museological practice and ethnographic research in Europe and we had a very fruitful discussion on these subjects.

Rainforest shield, Johnston River, Qld P.G. Black, pre-1908 Va1

Ceremonial waninga, Arrernte people Carl Strehlow, pre1913

Bark ‘tunga’ basket Tiwi people, Melville Is., NT. Prof Handschin, 1931

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Feather plume, East Arnhem Land, Rev. T. Webb, 1931

Spearthrower, Port Hedland, W.A. E. Clement, 1890s.

Pigorini Ethnographic Museum, Rome, Italy

Generous access to the collection and accompanying documentation was provided by Dr Marco Biscioni, Curator of the Oceania Collections. I was able to photograph and document 290 objects, representing 90% of the Australian collection. Features: - The core of the collection rests in the much larger ethnographic collection gathered by the Italian scientist and scholar Enrico Hillyer Giglioli, who travelled to Australia during 1865 and made numerous ethnographic contacts who subsequently supplied him with well documented collections. - The Giglioli collection includes important contributions from the New Norcia mission in Western Australia, the Ramahyuk mission in Gippsland, Victoria, objects collected by Ferdinand von Mueller, and even three objects collected by Ludwig Becker during the Burke and Wills Expedition, previously unknown in Australia. I was able to arrange for these objects to be lent to the National Library in Canberra for a forthcoming Burke and Wills exhibition. I had discussions relating to the future possibility of collaborative ventures involving exhibitions and research. While in Rome I also had the opportunity to visit the Vatican Museum of Ethnography, where I inspected the Australian collection, containing objects from the New Norcia Mission in Western Australia (also represented in the Pigorini Museum). The Curator, Danielle Serrini, provided me with photocopies of documentation relating to particular artefacts.

Hafted stone knife & sheath, Pine Creek, ca.1891 E.C. Stirling to Giglioli 2472

Detail of taap knife, with china blade, Albany, W.A. 1888 Th. Carmel to Giglioli 89g.

Hunting net, worn as belt New Norcia, W.A. Bishop Salvado, 1882 25060

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Shell necklace, Northern Queensland William Finucane, 1897 59399

Hafted stone adze Bulloo River, Qld, Ludwig Becker, 1861 Burke & Wills Exped. 93g

Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, Scotland

Generous access to the collection and accompanying documentation was provided by Chantal Knowles, Curator of the Oceania Collections. I was able to photograph and document more than 300 objects, representing 90% of the Australian collection. Features: - A large and important collection of early nineteenth-century objects from south-eastern and south-western Australia, transferred from the University of Edinburgh in 1850. - A large and well documented 1890s collection from the Kimberley and Pilbara regions, obtained by the British collector, E. Clement (complementing that seen in Basel, for example). - A collection of Arrernte objects from Hermannsburg, gathered by H.J. Hillier, a collector well represented in the South Australian Museum. - Small collection of objects obtained during the 1894 Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia. I have now been able to identify many of the objects collected during this trip, distributed throughout museums in Australia and Britain. I had useful discussions regarding the present state of museum ethnography in Britain.

Detail of carving on shield, South-east Australia, Dr Broom, pre-1850 Uc.658

Decorated boab nut, Kimberley, W.A. Capt. Sturrock, 1906 1935.692

Wooden bowl, fibre cord, South-east Australia, University coll., pre-1850 Uc 106

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Painted bark belt, Darwin region, 1964.448

Skirt of emu feathers, South-east Aust, Collector unknown 1911.173

Royal Albert Museum, Exeter, England

Generous access to the collection and accompanying documentation was provided by Dr Len Pole, Curator of the Oceania Collections. I was able to photograph and document 255 objects, representing 98% of the Australian collection. Features: - An outstanding collection of artefacts from the Kimberley and Ashburton regions of Western Australia, obtained by the private collector and ethnographer Col. L. Montague in 1912. - A varied collection of pre-1860 Victorian artefacts, obtained by the pastoralist D. Lloyd Jones. - Pre-1920 collection of south-eastern Queensland artefacts obtained by Dr H.E. Bridgeman. - Collection of pre-1890s south-eastern Australian weapons, obtained by W.R. Hayman and R.S. Harris.

Detail of spearthrower, Victoria, 1860s D. Lloyd Jones 86/1920/52

Glass spearhead, Kimberley, W.A. Col. Montague, ca.1900

Reverse of shield, Qld, 1860s Dr Bridgman

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Spearthrower, King Georges Sound, W.A. Dr Teschemaker, 1860s E1137

Detail of club, Southern Qld, J. Muir

Royal Africa Museum, Tervuren, Brussels, Belgium

Generous access to the collection and accompanying documentation was provided by Dr Gustaaf Verswijver, Head, Anthropology Department. I was able to photograph and document 132 objects, representing 95% of the Australian collection. Features: - Collection of 1860s weapons from south-eastern Queensland, obtained by Belgium’s ConsulGeneral in Australia, Monsieur Morhange. - Important collection of nineteenth century artefacts gathered by the Brussels collector J. Vander Straete, through sales in Europe and Australia. - Pre-1870s collection of weaponry obtained in Australia by the Belgian collector Jourdan. I had fruitful discusions regarding the present direction and future policy relating to museum anthropology in Belgium, particularly relating to collaborative work with African peoples.

Pearl shell ornament, Kimberley, M. Dumaulin, 1949 79.1.1534

Detail of shield, string mend, Victoria, mid-19th cent. M. Jourdan, 67.63.1430

Reverse of shield, Showing fibre padding, Southern Qld, M. Mourhange, 1860s 67.63.1431

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Gypsum widow’s cap, Murray River, A.S. Kenyon (Vander Straete) 70.3.4

Detail of spearthrower peg, Pilbara region, W.A., M. Jourdan, 67.63.2725

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Aboriginal Australia in European collections The circumstances of colonialism have resulted in massive ethnographic collections in European museums, originating from indigenous peoples of Africa, the Pacific, the Americas, and Asia. It is a striking fact that while the collections from those regions have generally received concerted attention from European curators, resulting in well-ordered collections, catalogues, exhibitions and (more recently) collaborative research projects involving communities of origin, the Aboriginal collections in Europe are generally poorly understood and remain relatively neglected. The reason is that it has been the tendency in both British and European museums to regard Aboriginal Australia as another Pacific island, so that the great diversity of Aboriginal cultures across the country has been often overlooked, strengthening the stereotype of Aboriginal Australia as homogeneous and primitive. This attitude expresses itself in European museum exhibitions as well as in storage and cataloguing techniques. I found that although curators were aware of the fact of Aborginal cultural, linguistic and material culture diversity, their own specialisations lay elsewhere and they were unable to explore this theme. For that reason, my own input in terms of supplementing their Aboriginal collection documentation was appreciated. In general I found the Australian collections in European museums to be in a good state of preservation. Curators placed a high value on the Aboriginal collections, even if this commitment did not always translate into the material receiving priority in terms of exhibition or research.

A 'distributed collection' My Fellowship enabled me to conceive of the Aboriginal collections in Europe not as a random assortment of objects stored haphazardly in museum basements and attics, but as a 'distributed collection', originating in similar circumstances during the colonial period. Similar forces and factors were at work; similar motivations impelled traders, officials, missionaries, anthropologists and antiquarians to gather ethnographic objects. Once in Europe, the Aboriginal collections were also subject to the same forces which have seen other ethnographic material circulate from collector to collector, and museum to museum. Thus E. Clement's collections of north-western Australian Aboriginal material can be found in more than a dozen European museums, and I encountered elements of it in Dresden, Basel, Rome and Edinburgh. In Rome I located a photographic collection from a Victorian mission obtained by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller; the ethnographic objects obtained by him during that visit are in Dresden. I identified several southern Western Australian objects, apparently de-accessioned by the Western Australian Museum in about 1900, in Edinburgh, Exeter and Rome. I located the previously untraced collections of the German physical anthropologist Hermann Klaatsch in Warsaw, having been transferred from the Breslau Musum which had been part of Germany until after the Second World War. Several collectors represented in the South Australian Museum, and in other Australian museums, were also located in European museums, such as the missionaries Carl Strehlow (Hermannsburg) and Nicholas Hey (Aurukun). Objects in the Hermannsburg collection gathered by the Budapest psycho-analyst Geza Roheim, are inscribed with the same writing as similar objects in the South Australian Museum collection, confirming that Roheim was a recipient, not an original collector of these objects gathered in the first instance by a

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schoolteacher at Hermannsburg. These are just a few of the particular conclusions arising from my detailed examination of these European collections. These conclusions point to the need to deepen and extend this research. Using an illustrated, cross-linked database, it is possible to lay out and make sense of the full jig-saw of pieces which remain in the historical and ethnographic record, both in Europe and in North America. By treating these collections as distributed elements of a single collection, we will be in a position to build a composite picture of the surviving record of Aboriginal material culture. I strongly recommend that a funded project be instituted to extend the photographic and documentary record of Aboriginal material culture to other European and North American museums, with the aim of producing an integrated database. My project has demonstrated that it is possible, using digital technology, to document and bring together the diverse European (and North American) collections of Aboriginal material and to place these within their historical and cultural context.

Museum Practice My visits to European museums has reinforced one main conclusion relating to museum practice in Europe and a potentially dangerous divergence from it which we faces us here in Australia. Like us, European museums suffer many pressures regarding funding and government support. It is clear though, that the practice of museum ethnography, and the responsibility for maintaining and interpreting historic collections, is more firmly grounded in Europe. The programme of exhibitions involving historic collections and their display is vibrant and often controversial. Museum directors involve themselves directly in these issues, and politicians are aware of them. Migrants arriving from former colonies are increasingly involved in debates relating to their cultural representation within museums. In the latest wave of Australian museum redevelopment during the late 1990s and early 2000s exhibitions have understandably tended to stress contemporary Aboriginal issues. Historic ethnographic collections have been enlisted mainly as as background rather than in their own right. This style of exhibition has topical merit, but Australian museums are at risk of diminishing public access to the rich cultural patrimony for which they are responsible. My experience of European ethnographic museums has been that this complex issue is closer to the surface and is considered more relevant to wider social debates. There a new emphasis on contemporary indigenous issues and anthropological practice has not necessarily excluded or endangered the concerns of traditional museology, and has not resulted in the marginalisation of historic collections. A balance between tradiitonal concerns and contemporary issues has been maintained by a profession which itself consists of experienced professional curators and a new generation training to take their place. In Australia the ‘critical mass’ of trained and experienced curators working with ethnographic material is comparatively much smaller, operating at barely sustainable levels. A concerted effort is required to document and analyise the cultural patrimony held in museum collections; it is not enough to simply maintain them. This issue deserves greater recognition from museum directors and boards who are setting future directions for Australian museums. Museum management and senior curators should encourage and maintain research into the origins of their collections, and ensure that the results are made available to the public and to Aboriginal communities. I see my own Fellowship, and the conclusions resulting from it, as a contribution to that initiative.

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