What is the value and significance of historical ethnographic collections today? Early July 2022, archival materials – prints of paintings and digital documents – from the German ethnographic expeditions to the Kimberley, Northwest Australia (1938-39, 1954-55), were presented to the Wilinggin Aboriginal Corporation.
Richard Kuba and Kane Nenowat hanging a large-scale print of a rock art copy depicting Modum gallery. Photo: Kim Doohan
For the digital repatriation project, co-directed by the Frobenius Institute and the University of Western Australia, the project members (Kim Doohan, Christina Henneke, Richard Kuba and Martin Porr) were in Derby (Western Australia), engaging with the Traditional Owners of the Wanjina Wunggurr Community and discussing cultural protocols for shared curation and the preservation of cultural materials.
Installation view at Wilinggin Shed. Photo: Martin Porr
Sam Lovell and Christina Henneke working with the archive database. Photo: Martin Porr
Christina Henneke, Leah Umbagai & Kirsty Burgu discussing the archive database. Photo: Kim Doohan
