NOVEMBER 2012 ■ VOL 9 ■ ISSUE 2 Exhibitions Research Collections 2 Message from the Director of the National Museum of Australia 3 The Museum welcomes another national treasure MESSAGE FROM THE into the collection, by Barbara Paulson & Jay Arthur DIRECTOR OF THE 4 Me-nag-er-ie, by Andy Greenslade NATIONAL MUSEUM 6 Landmarks, by Kirsten Wehner OF AUSTRALIA 8 Warakurna, by Peter Thorley 10 The state of things, by Barbara Paulson 11 Encounters, by Michael Pickering The way in which the world communicates is changing rapidly. 12 Visitors from Far North Queensland, by Trish Alberts At the National Museum, we are trying to keep pace with the new 13 Singing a painting, by Samuel Curkpatrick ways in which conversations are taking place. 14 Old Masters, by Samuel Curkpatrick This will be the last paper-based edition of Goree. In future, we will 16 Talking around the songlines, by Margo Neale and be keeping you informed of the life and work of the Museum in an Tessa Keenan online edition. 18 Representing Brungle, by Barbara Paulson Goree will continue to talk about the ways in which the National Museum is engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 19 Raukkan, by Barbara Paulson people and communities. One advantage of the online edition will 20 Finding family connections at the Museum, be an improved capacity to introduce future projects, as well as by Deb Frederick reporting on past events. 21 Canoe on the move, by Andy Greenslade This transformation of Goree is a part of many changes that are 22 Old trucking yard, by Barbara Paulson taking place at the National Museum. Visitors to the Museum will notice another change of emphasis — a renewed determination to 23 Ghost nets, by Jay Arthur show more of the Museum’s vast collection. In October this year, 24 The Danny Morseu Collection, by Barbara Paulson we launch a permanent display of some of our large objects in the Museum’s building in Canberra. This display includes the Tasmanian 25 Circus Waters Massacre, by Ian Nelson Aboriginal bark canoe that was recently commissioned by the 26 Collections stories: Museum and made by Rex Greeno to an ancient blueprint; and the —Helicopter, by Peter Thorley huge and important canvas Martumili Ngurra. Another dimension of —Rose Kirby collection, by Barbara Paulson our determination to use and display the collection will culminate —Michael Long collection, by Barbara Paulson in the Old Masters exhibition that we will be mounting as part of the — Aunty Tammy Tidmarsh collection, Centenary of Canberra celebrations in 2013. Old Masters will be a by Barbara Paulson showcase of the Museum’s unparalleled, but little known, collection of bark paintings. Goree: Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander News One significant way in which we are providing access to the Edition editor Barbara Paulson collection is in the development of material in digital formats that Copyeditor Justine Molony can be used as a resource within education curricula. For many years, the Museum has played a leading role in the development Project manager Barbara Paulson of education materials. The close working relationship between Design Giraffe Visual Communication Management Pty Ltd the Museum and Indigenous communities in the production Print New Millennium Print of curriculum-related resources has been essential to this. Photos George Serras, Jason McCarthy and Katie Shanahan, The Museum has been enabled to play a vital role in helping National Museum of Australia, unless otherwise noted communities to share their culture and knowledge in an Cover photos Main: The kids from Ntaria School with Lenie Namatjira, appropriate way with a wider Australian audience, which is eager Cecily Hardy and Shannon Huber visit the Museum and to learn and understand more about the past and contemporary see their places and names represented in the Garden of Indigenous people. Australian Dreams (an outdoor exhibit representing the diverse landscapes of Australia). As I visit museums around the country and talk to my colleagues Bottomleft: Rex Greeno, his son Dean and grandson both here and overseas I am struck by the way in which museum Harrison with the canoe made for the new exhibition thinking is evolving. Close relationships between museums and Big Things currently open in the Museum’s Hall. Indigenous communities have developed new obligations and Bottommiddle: Aunty Soni Piper shared her story and responsibilities for museums and we embrace these. There are new perspective about her home and community in Brungle, ways of working, too, emerging — ways of working that could best New South Wales. Photo by: Barbara Paulson be characterised as conversations; and true collaborations that Bottomright: Aunty Marcia Jerry, Trish Albert and Anne Kelly replace the older paradigm of simple consultation. in the Community Access room discussing the collections. Email [email protected] These new ways of working create exciting opportunities and promise to result in original and engaged ways of telling stories. Produced by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander And, through Goree, we will continue to keep you informed of our Program with assistance from the Photography, latest collaborations and new projects as they unfold. Publishing and Copyright and Reproduction sections of the National Museum of Australia. Andrew Sayers AM Director The Museum welcomes another national treasure into the collection A rare and significant national treasure — the remaining half of the gate from the Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Home (c 1950) — was recently donated to the Museum. ‘If this old gate could talk, you’d hear some horror stories,’ said Ian ‘Crow’ Lowe, former Kinchela resident. In a suburban street in Kempsey, a small crowd of friends and brothers gathered to see ‘the gate’ and officially hand it over to the Museum. It was a moment of high emotions as Kinchela ‘Boys’ — now senior men — saw, for the first time in over 48 years, the gate that they walked through as children when they became part of Kinchela; part of the systematic removal of children from families; part of the Stolen Generations. The gate will represent their experiences, both as individuals and as a collective, within the Museum. The oral histories of these men have been documented and the gate will go on display in the Gallery of First Australians. Pastor Ray Minnecon stated, ‘This is a part of the healing — knowing their stories are believed and knowing this history will be remembered.’ The Kinchela men who were present at the handover to the Museum were joyous but focused about making sure that their story is In front: Harold ‘Bluey’ Smith shaking hands with Barbara Paulson. known and heard. ‘This [gate] is what kept us in — kept us from Behind, holding up the gate: Jay Arthur, Ian ‘Crow’ Lowe, William Lesley, Richard Cambell, Manuel Ebsworth and Cecil Bowden our culture. Going through that gate — it was going into hell,’ said Manuel Ebsworth. The donation to the Museum means the gate will be ‘looked after’ and readily accessible for all those who were at we, as a community [in Kempsey], could do about it. I hope this story Kinchela, and their relatives. Uncle Cecil Bowden said ‘for us this is helps people become educated enough to know why we don’t do this an old story, a hard story, but it’s our story. Our lives were impacted to children. Children become adults. Adults actions and attitudes they negatively by being there [at Kinchela] and those experiences there express in life reflect their experiences.’ — it negatively affected our life and how we live our life.’ This is an extraordinarily rare and significant object for the Museum to Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Home was one of the best known of the collect. There is very little material culture remaining from the homes Aboriginal children’s homes of New South Wales. Those children, where so many of the Stolen Generations spent their childhoods. who are now adults, parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, The Museum is committed to representing what is one of the most are acknowledged and known as the Stolen Generations. William important stories of the twentieth century, for Aboriginal and Torres Lesley said ‘We were only little when we went there [Kinchela]. We Strait Islander peoples. This object will assist the Museum to tell the were taken from our family, but we became family for each other. story of removed children more comprehensively. We’re brothers, we stick together.’ Throughout its years of operation, Barbara Paulson & Jay Arthur Curators, ATSIP Kinchela and its residents were often reported, in national and local news media, with positive stories about the residents’ lives and experiences. The reality, however, was quite different. Several William Lesley, with KBH brother Manuel Ebsworth and his grandson reports, from both private researchers and government officials, Victor Ebsworth-Hooper, stands next to the gate. Mr Ebsworth said describe the living situation of residents over each decade, the ‘I was only my grandson’s age when I was sent to Kinchela’ brutal treatment that the boys received, and teaching practices at Kinchela. These men are the human face of that history. The gate was part of a pair that originally formed the front gates of Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Home, since it was established by the Board for the Protection of Aborigines in 1924, and, formed a significant part of the childhood memories of residents. When they were replaced in about 1950, the original gates were discarded until, in the late 1990s, a community member found one of them by the river in Kempsey. The gate was given to Uncle Harold ‘Bluey’ Smith, a Dunguddi elder and chairman of the local Lands Council. Uncle Bluey Smith has been custodian of the gate for over 13 years. Though he did not attend Kinchela, he knew former residents and was aware of the gate’s cultural importance.