Other People's Pain: Trauma and Testimony in Australian Museums

Other People’s Pain: trauma and testimony in Australian museums Joanna Ruth Besley Bachelor of Design Studies A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2018 School of Social Science Abstract This thesis examines how testimony has emerged as a key strategy for representing and interpreting the past in contemporary museums, particularly in the context of traumatic histories. When testimony appears in exhibitions, personal trauma becomes public memory. The thesis asks of this transformation: how, why and with what effects? Through three case studies, the thesis explores how traumatic testimony is curated and encountered in exhibitions. In deploying testimony, museums seek not only to give recognition to those who have experienced traumatic pasts and advance human rights claims, but also to solicit empathic, ethical response and action on the part of audiences. Now positioned as witnesses to traumatic testimony, museum visitors are challenged to feel, acknowledge and take responsibility for the suffering of others. Empathy is widely accepted to be the vehicle through which this takes place. My research critically examines the social, political and ethical consequences of these new museological strategies and claims. As such, its aims are twofold. Firstly, the research contributes to a critical examination of contemporary museum practice, highlighting how some contemporary museums, in taking on the responsibility of “working through” traumatic histories, are intervening in issues with high political, ethical and social stakes and positioning themselves as agents of social inclusion and advocacy, even activism. Secondly, it aims to make a theoretical contribution about how testimony impacts upon the ways that museums shape and consolidate collective narratives and understandings of the past, especially regarding contested or suppressed histories. This is a qualitative research project that focuses on three cases studies, each a temporary exhibition about traumatic history in Australia that uses testimony in a variety of ways. Reflexive ethnography is the primary methodology, with my personal experiences as a museum curator essential to the study. Using autoethnography, the research examines projects where I have had varying levels of involvement, as curator, participant observer and researcher. Augmenting my ethnographic approach, I draw on interviews and participant observation, along with archival research and analysis of exhibition content and visitor comments. The first case study is an exhibition at the Ration Shed Museum in the Aboriginal community of Cherbourg in Queensland. Many Threads, which opened in 2014, presents the history of Aboriginal women’s experiences as domestic workers in Queensland during the 19th and 20th centuries. The case study focuses on the “yarning circle”; a process of testimony and witnessing that was used to generate the exhibition content—a series of artworks created by Cherbourg women. The second case study is Remembering Goodna: stories from a Queensland mental hospital, an exhibition at Museum of Brisbane in 2007- 08 that presented the history of Queensland’s largest, oldest, longest-operating mental hospital. This chapter examines video testimony in the exhibition. The third case study is the exhibition Inside: Life in Children’s Homes and Institutions shown at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra in 2011-12, which also travelled to state museums in 2013-14. This exhibition came about because of the Australian Government’s National Apology to Forgotten Australians and Child Migrants and presented the experiences of some of the half-a-million children who spent time in institutional “care” in Australia in the 20th century. This case study looks at how a blog was used to invite testimony from Forgotten Australians, and formed the basis of the exhibition itself. Visitor comments collected by each of the museums are the focus of analysis in a further chapter. In dealing with trauma, abuse and neglect due to institutionalisation and forced removal from home or country, the histories presented in these exhibitions raise issues of justice and restitution in the present and the future. Given that in each of these case studies the ultimate responsibility for the trauma and suffering experienced by these citizens lies with the state, the use of testimony in these exhibitions is unavoidably political, with implications for the meanings and instrumental functions of national history in contemporary Australia. These histories reverberate through present-day Australian life. The ways they are interpreted and understood have consequences not only in the lives of victims, survivors and perpetrators but also in terms of the collective, public recognition of responsibility for past wrongs, and current policy. The thesis therefore enables an extended interrogation of the roles, obligations, potentialities and limits of museums in negotiating political, ethical and social issues. Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, financial support and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my higher degree by research candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis and have sought permission from co-authors for any jointly authored works included in the thesis. Publications during candidature Book chapters: Besley, J., & Were, G. (2014). Remembering the Queensland Floods: Community Collecting in the Wake of Natural Disaster. In I. Convery, G. Corsane & P. Davis (Eds.), Displaced Heritage: Responses to Disaster, Trauma and Loss (pp. 41-51). Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. Peer-reviewed papers: Besley, J. (2016). ‘Speaking to, with and about’: Cherbourg women’s memory of domestic work as activist counter-memory. Continuum 30(3), 316-325. Besley, J. (2016). Navigating Norman Creek. reCollections 11(1), http://recollections.nma.gov.au/. Besley, J. (2015). ‘Looking Past’: the work of Michael Aird. reCollections 10(1), http://recollections.nma.gov.au/. Besley, J. (2014). Compassionate Museums? Museum Worlds 2, 148-151. Conference abstracts: Besley, J. (2014, February). ‘Speaking to, with and about’: Cherbourg women’s memory as activist intervention. Paper presented at the Social Memory and Feminist Cultural Histories workshop, St Lucia, QLD. Besley, J. (2014, July). ‘A view from the inside’: testimony and the new museum ethics. Paper presented at The Future of the Past conference, Melbourne, VIC. Besley, J. (2014, June). ‘Speaking to, with and about’: Cherbourg women’s memory as activist intervention. Paper presented at the Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Biennial International Conference, Melbourne, VIC. Publications included in the thesis Besley, J. (2016). ‘Speaking to, with and about’: Cherbourg women’s memory of domestic work as activist counter-memory. Continuum 30(3), 316-325. Contributions by others to the thesis No contributions by others Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None Research Involving Human or Animal Subjects The project has been approved by the University of Queensland’s Behavioural and Social Sciences Ethical Review Committee, approval number: 201300900, found at Appendix 1. Acknowledgements This thesis is an extension of, and reflection upon, my curatorial practice over many years. I have been privileged to work on some very meaningful projects and my sincere thanks go first and foremost to the people who participated in these and shared their experiences and knowledge with me. This was often difficult and painful and I acknowledge their courage and strength; they have been wonderful teachers. I also whole-heartedly thank the colleagues I worked with on these projects and throughout my research. I would like to specifically acknowledge Carol Low, Adele Chynoweth, Louise Denoon, Carmen Burton, Leanne Kelly, Alice-Anne Boylan, Robyn Hofmeyr, Mark Newman, Auntie Lesley Williams, Auntie Sandra Morgan, Auntie Ada Simpson, Peter Trail, Kate Raffin, Elizabeth Bates, Frank McBride, Philip Manning, Jay Arthur, Mark Finnane, Jonathan Richards, Nadia Beer and Craig Proudley. I am also grateful for the help

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